Circus Of Rock

Come One, Come All

(Frontiers)

7/10

By Decibel Report

Circus Of Rock is a new band, or rather a massive musical project, masterminded by drummer Mirka Rantanen (King Company). “Come One, Come All” has a killer line-up of singers and musicians. The impressive performers are drawn from Amaranthe, Tyketto, Hardline, Nightwish, Leverage plus musicians from bands such as Stratovarius, Brother Firetribe, and Masterplan. Quite a vast array of talents and there’s no doubting the direction the songcraft takes with the melodic metal underpinning on most of these tracks. The influences of The Scorpions raises its stinging tail on Desperate Cry and Never. Europe and Nightwish on In Times Of Despair and the oddly titled Plywood Covered Windows And Crappy Shoes is a pomptastic thrill ride of high synths and crunching guitars. There is also a rock radio vibe permeating throughout this album of which Edge Of Love and Everafter are prime examples. Coming in at just under one hour, whilst there is nothing groundbreaking or new here, Circus Of Rock is a highly entertaining collection of songs and performances worth investing time in.

Ringmaster Mirka Rantanen reveals the impetus and inspiration behind this collegiate project:

“A few years ago I started to think about recording a solo album; however, I didn’t want to do just a traditional solo album. That’s because people often think a solo album is mainly to allow the musicians to show off their fantastic skills and magnificent instruments, but I wanted to focus more on the great songs that don’t happen to have extra drum solos. I also wanted to include many fantastic colleagues with whom I have played over the years on this album and in addition a couple of great guest singers. The album will be a kind of milestone in my professional career, my long-term 'dream that is finally coming true' type of thing," says Rantanen.

Musicians appearing on the album include:
- Jarkko Ahola
- Rick Altzi (Masterplan)
- Kimmo Blom (Leverage)
- Johnny Gioeli (Hardline)
- Marco Hietala (ex-Nightwish)
- Erik Kraemer (Simulacrum)
- Mark Quee
- Antti Railio
- Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone)
- Elize Ryd (Amaranthe)
- Tommi “Tuple” Salmela
- Riku Turunen
- Danny Vaughn (Tyketto)

Mirka Rantanen has a long career in the Finnish hard rock scene. He has played on 30+ albums during his 30-year career, including releases by King Company, Raskasta Joulua, Kotipelto, Warmen, Northern Kings, Revolution Renaissance, and more. In addition, ten years ago he created the very popular heavy rock band for kids called ‘Hevisaurus’, for which he was awarded the Emma Award in 2011 (the Finnish equivalent of a Grammy).

Tracklist:

1. The Beat (Feat. Riku Turunen)
2. Desperate Cry (Feat. Johnny Gioeli)
3. Sheriff Of Ghost Town (Feat. Marco Hietala)
4. Never (Feat. Kimmo Blom)
5. In Times Of Despair (Feat. Elize Ryd)
6. Crossroads (Feat. Pasi Rantanen)
7. Caught In The Middle (Feat. Danny Vaughn)
8. Plywood Covered Windows And Crappy Shoes (Antti Railio)
9. Edge Of Love (Feat. Rick Altzi)
10. Set Me Free (Feat. Jarkko Ahola
11. Everafter (Feat. Tommi “Tuple” Salmela)
12. No Reason (Feat Marc Quee)
13. Tears Of The Clown (Feat. Erik Kraemer)
14. Burning (Bonus Track Digital)

Total length: 00.57.09


Band contacts:
https://www.circusofrockofficial.com
https://facebook.com/circusofrockofficial/
https://instagram.com/circus_of_rock/