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2005 is suffering some severe downtime right now. The new Overkill was a disappointment, as were Tristania, then Brainstorm, and now this – perhaps the worst of them all. Now as everyone should know by now, Circle II Circle features Zak Stevens (Savatage) on the vocals and this band hasn't really put itself on the map yet, except for riding under the Savatage fame. And this album is not going to take them anywhere.

I've had enough of being subtle and critiquing stuff with an air of leniency. I went easy on the new Brainstorm and the Tristania but there is only so much a man can take, and "The Middle Of Nowhere" is the last nail in the coffin. This album just sucks. It is not actively annoying, but the song writing is mediocre and the riffs are puny at best. Zak's performance is still top notch as usual, but that doesn't help the music here when the song-writing itself is at fault. This is just basic heavy metal/hard rock with some very mellow songs that never crank up the heaviness nor deliver any memorable melodies. In all honesty, this album sounds like just one long song, that is not especially horrible, but sorry, that just doesn't cut it. Tough luck!

Anyway, I've always been of the opinion that Zak Stevens was the better Savatage vocalist. And I do maintain that. But with this new lineup and the song-writing capability, this band is headed nowhere. At least they got the title of the album right, so add a point for that.