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It had been a very long time since I last listened to Labyrinth, so I figured I'd check out this new one. Wow. I kind of overdosed on the genre, speedy, upbeat, over-the-top European power metal, some 20+ years ago, so I take it in small doses these days. After hearing this album, maybe I should rethink that position.

Welcome to the Absurd Circus is everything you expect from this kind of European power metal: catchy, speedy, positive sounding while remaining crunchy and powerful. The vocals are just great–nothing bad to say here, just about everything is singalong-worthy. The vocalist does a great job with the high notes and the more powerful lines just like it does with the slower, very melodic and borderline syrupy parts. The drums are, of course, a blast fest, delivered with conviction and they just resonate throughout, adding a hell of a lot of punch to the songs. The guitars are crunchy and some of the solos are either catchy or so fast that you don't know what just hit you. As can be expected in the genre, there are a lot of keyboards, but the band uses them very tastefully and I'd bet even those who aren't too fond of keyboards might find their use here enjoyable (then again, they might not be listening to this genre in the first place, but that's another story). The album is an hour long but it's so fun and invigorating that it feels shorter and it's one of those that's very hard not to play over and over... and over and over... Highly recommended.