Circus of Death

Out with Pedro, in with Baza. About two years after the end of the string of speed/power/thrash records that came back to back, Overdose would abandon all hints of power metal and fully discharge its weapons with thrash metal, likely due in part by swapping singers. Circus Of Death took on a more sinister tone overall, a style that would rapidly change once again after this monster. What probably kept Overdose under the radar was the fact that it was just a little late. This brand of heavy metal was far less popular and soon to hibernate for a while. Had this come out a little earlier in the timeline, perhaps they would have drawn a larger following.

Even though there was a fair amount of thrash in previous efforts, this one crosses the line that beholds darker tones and a far more assertive attitude. Before, it was easily comparable to the likes of Metal Church or Iced Earth. Here, many compare them to Sepultura because of the raw death-like nature of the dropped guitars and raspier vocals. Although I'm sure people also just say it because they're from the same area. Instrumentally, it takes on a speed-picking frenzy of riff assaults, laying super wicked solos, such as the explosive one on "The Zombie Factory". Other tracks like the following one "Dead Clowns" slow it down a bit and dull away some of the sharp distortion. This in turn creates a more melodic tone yet maintaining the eerie environment through the usage of minor keys and whiny guitars. So there's more than one name of the game when it comes to instrumentation, despite failing to vary in the overall mood. Had the album been longer, this would affect it more.

On the other hand, the vocals are very similar to that of Phil Anselmo with the gritty echo of his harder vocal shreiks. As a nice touch, the delivery is very clear and it's blunt enough to burst through some of the rougher production. The mix does sometimes get a little awkward, mostly during the solos, as the rhythms take too much foreground in some areas and the two blend together, but honestly, this can be overlooked and I'm somewhat being picky. Plus, it helps the drums blow through that top layer, making for a harder swing to the eardrums on the intense moments. What matters the most though is how the tunes are able to leave a lasting impression. While it's nothing legendary, it certainly keeps the head banging the whole time, and manages to make me want to keep revisiting. "The Healer" does a spectacular job with switching the delivery style around, with slower guitars to start, speed balls welded with loud vocal outbursts coming at you next, and finally incorporating in some melodic moments. The ability to do things like this are what prevent the flaws from hitting the surface often.

Anybody who digs thrash or groove metal would have something to walk away with from giving Circus Of Death a spin. Moving forward, the band would lean towards the latter of the two, making this nothing short of a big transition album. Blending raw thrashy guitars with a melodic yet dark tone, topped with groovier vocals are the final formula, and despite a few production errors, this idea worked out perfectly.

Originally written for Antichrist Magazine: http://antichristmagazine.com/review-overdose-circus-of-death-1992/

It's become something of a post-1980s trope to conclude that thrash metal's unceremonious dismissal from mainstream consumption was the result of its own growing inadequacy and inability to evolve, or at least this cliche is continually bolstered by a number of revisionists within the metal community who see the sub-genre in less than a favorable light. Quite the contrary, many of the more interesting and nuanced expressions of thrash metal came in at the tail-end of its initial run (circa 1990-1992, and even as recent as 1994 for certain non-North American outfits), when slower elements and more progressive songwriting started to enter the equation without fully robbing the style of its core characteristics. Among one of the lesser known acts that had a fairly respectable run in the late 80s and even had a few noted gems come out in the early 90s before being swallowed up by the groove metal craze in Brazil's own Overdose, a band that hailed from the same locale as both Sepultura and Sarcofago, but wound up embarking on a more mainline, Bay Area influenced mode of thrashing with some power metal additives on earlier releases that gave them an occasional affinity with the likes of Flotsam And Jetsam and Scanner at times.

Circus Of Death, this band's final offering in the thrash metal style during their initial run, dons imagery that is all too appropriate to both its day and its more measured, nineties Exodus meets Heathen sound. The visual of the skeletal remains of a crucified clown is all too fitting to the Seattle onslaught of garbage that would basically kill off most of the lighthearted humor elements of heavy music that was along for the ride with more serious material, and the album itself is possessed of a mid-paced, grinding heaviness that is still nimble enough to trade blows with contemporary output via bands like Overkill and Cyclone Temple, yet also manages to trade blows with the intensity of Exhorder. It is largely a mixed affair where punchy grooving elements and exaggerated gruff vocals that stop just shy of Phil Anselmo territory but are still a bit meaner than typical James Hetfield material are balanced out with a fairly technical array of noodling lead guitar work and occasional funky twists out of the bass work, the latter element showing tendencies towards Mordred and Blind Illusion on a lesser scale while the former reaches and sometimes surpasses the intricacy of Heathen and Forbidden for territory suited to the transitional works of Voivod.

All elements considered, this seemingly massive mishmash of ongoing practices within thrash metal manages to manifest itself into something that is fairly conventional and easy to follow. The more middle of the road aggression at a moderate pace factor inherent in long excursions such as "The Zombie Factory" and "Beyond My Bad Dreams" definitely bring down the latter day Exodus meets Exhorder brand of simplicity and rage like a ton of bricks. The similarly long and crunchy "The Healer", on the other hand, takes on a bit more of a progressive angle, incorporating a bit of subdued balladry at its onset that occasionally sounds like an unintentional paraphrase of Guns N' Roses material before laying down the heavy riff work. On the other side of the thrashing coin is speedier fair such as "Violence" (a fitting title since it sounds like it could have appeared on Oppressing The Masses if Sean Killian did the vocals) and "Profit" that are a bit closer to a 1988 sound, save some of the acoustic guitar noodling at the beginning of the former. Ironically enough, one of the more memorable and overall effective blends of thrashing and mid-paced groove is the bonus song "Children Of War", matching Exhorder's The Law at every turn and even topping it in the guitar solo department.

Though this falls pretty squarely into forgotten gem territory from the closing days of thrash metal's first ascendancy, Circus Of Death has not been without a number of sympathetic parties within the metal world. Just prior to the style making a notable rebound in the early to mid 2000s via Brazilian acts like Bywar and Violator, Pavement Music resurrected it with a different track ordering that proved to greater emphasize the album's slower grooving tendencies (largely by caking all the faster songs in the center of the album). Though this would detract a bit from the album's effectiveness, it did present fans with the full nine song collection from the initial 1992 CD release, which has since been revived via digital download along with this band recently. While the author of this review possesses and based this write up on the Pavement version, it is scored with the original track listing in mind, and any interested parties who like the mainline thrashing of bands like Xentrix and the punchier approach of Exhorder would do well to go for the digital release for the best experience. Who knows, in this present age where good humor seems in short supply, this crucified clown may find a more substantial audience than the grunge infused one that initially birthed it.

I guess this is novel because it's a Brazilian thrash album that doesn't sound at all like Sepultura, instead taking after bad Bay Area thrash instead. That's the only thing I can say about this release; it's novel in the most meaningless way possible. Other than that, this is just awful thrash ala the first couple Metallica albums or early Megadeth which is completely listless and generic. 'Circus Of Death' came out in 1992, one of thrash's darkest years, and it's not surprising that it sounds like it: mediocre, sterile, and with absolutely nothing to recommend for it.

Overdose sounds like thrash and nothing else; there's not a moment of inspiration anywhere on this CD (so it makes sense that it was re-released by Pavement). It's not particularly intense, everything happens exactly where you'd expect it to, from riff changes to rhythmic shifts to introduction of lead guitars and everything in between. The vocals are a very mediocre Nuclear Assault type half sung/half shouted performance with occasional backing gang vocals, giving the barest trace of crossover feel to what is otherwise just totally bare-bones Bay Area style thrash. I guess this sounds more like Anthrax than anything, but at least Anthrax could write a relatively memorable song. Overdose just sinks and sinks deeper into boredom and mediocrity with every track, making this release an absolute chore to get through. About the only engaging moments are those on tracks like the opening of 'The Healer', where the band tries to compose something melodic and memorable; that passage isn't exceptional but at least it's SOMETHING to break up the monotony of the release.

I don't recommend this to anyone and I don't think there are any fans of this album in the world, so who cares, just leave it in the bargain bin it's invariably in and ignore it completely. There's infinitely better music just about anywhere else.