Circle of 5ths "Colorblind"

Recently released from the Sacramento-based Circle of 5ths, this long awaited and highly anticipated disc has finally arrived and offers their penchant for the heavy bulldozed guitar tone and music all set to smooth, melodic female vocals chords making for an interesting and yet quite effective combination. Featuring on this disc bassist Mike McNellis, drummer Thommy Jacobs, guitarist / backing vocalist Steve Mahoney and vocalist Shyra, Circle of 5ths have nailed this one, their first full length and first release since their initial EP a couple of years ago.

Of the nine tracks on this release, there are actually quite a few highlights including the opening track "Bitter" which breaks open the heavy guitar tone from the outset and introduces Shyra's vocals well, "I Can See" which offers a huge soaring Shyra vocal effort and breaks into a clean guitar feel, accentuating Shyra's vocals, "Closure" which has some of Mahoney's strongest riff work with the main riff weaving in and out of the beat, and "If Only" which opens with a mellow feel and moves into a slow burner feel, marking itself down to a broken section of cleaner guitars.

Circle of 5ths, with this release, have drawn their sound out into the open, mixing the incredible voice of Shyra with the metal edged music behind her but also breaking the entire sound down into a moodier feel with plenty of breaks and smoothed out sections. Really, this disc wanders from the straight aggressive style (guitar/bass/drum wise) to the drawn out work allowing Shyra's vocals to breathe in and out of the riffs. This band is basically set off by the vocal melody, working their music to intertwine well with the vocal line making for heavy yet highly accessible tunes. The 5ths never really move at any kind of high end speed, opting more for the heavy groove and slower to mid-tempo style, leaving more to the imagination than anything else. This is a moody disc but has plenty of attraction and overall appeal and draws with its decidedly unique drive. There just isn't any other band in the vicinity doing what The 5ths are doing and that alone scores points. A strong effort and a good pickup.