Looking to blend their many diverse influences into a cohesive musical statement, hailing from San Diego, CA Circle 7 have set their sights on writing songs that blend heaviness, groove and melody with the hope of having a lasting emotional impact on their listeners.

'Dare' kicks the release into life with some heavy riffage and melodic powerhouse vocals, with a kinda slightly heavier Alter Bridge/Creed and all those types of musical rioters slant to it. 'Rebel Soul' contains some fine vocal moments courtesy of Simon Alcantara and there's some fine musicianship throughout and a clear production to be proud of.

'Whole' and 'Cage' have bundles of that aformentioned groove and melody but served up in a heavier vein with the riffs from six string merchants Ryan Holliday and Isaac Rauscher of note and delivered so intensely and precisely. 'Free' takes the tempo up with its biting vocal tones, the rhythm section of bassist Ryan Welcher and drummer Daniel Cease knocking out some thunderous, solid stuff. 'Chasing Bullets', again, is based around an intelligent song structure with its blistering guitar breaks and biting vocals. Title track, 'In Between', mellows it down a notch or two, although there is something missing from the overall musical equation with, for me, not enough catchy choral hooks, although it must be said the vocal passages and guitar mastery is extremely relevant and goes someway to covering up the lack of killer hooks, etc.

'Vermin' is another finely crafted tune getting the balance bang on between heaviness and melody. 'Army', 'Drain' and 'Bury Me' round things off musically finishing strongly with more stand out riffage moments and vocal highlights.

A decent album but without the more commercial elements this probably won't go global...

http://www.circle7band.com/