Savage Circus - Dreamland Manor, scheduled for release on the 29th of August, is the stunning debut of Thomen Stauch, Jens Carlsson, Piet Sielck and Emil Norberg. Four guys, nine tracks, this is what metal in the 21st century is supposed to be all about, at least according to Savage Circus.

The idea behind the band was spawned by Thomen Stauch as he was having trouble seeing his new compositions fit into the direction his former band Blind Guardian was taking. Discussing this with old friend Piet Sielck (Iron Savior), Thomen introduced the idea of forming a band following the style these new songs had. Dynamic, melodic and intricate arrangements topped off with soaring vocals. The only problem was with whom he should team up with to realize this new band. Having heard Thomens songs, Piet suggested he should check out Persuader as he had produced their sophomore album Evolution Purgatory. Thomen instantly felt the connection between his new compositions and the songwriting style found on the Persuader album. Piet supplied Thomen with the contacts for Emil and Jens who really liked the idea to work with Thomen on this project. And having known Piet for a long time as a great guitarist and an experienced producer he asked him to be a part of this new band as well. Of course, he was delighted to.

Still, there were some practical problems to be solved with these young Swedes being quite far away. However, internet came to the rescue. The possibility of having access to Piets studio during the songwriting sessions made this quite an easy mission. Sending mp3 files back and fourth, discussing songstructures and sounds through emails and phone, became a natural way to work for Savage Circus. Then, as soon as everybody was available, they met up in Hamburg at Piets studio to record stuff and have a beer or two, Ice Tea if you happen to be Thomen. After this get-together two songs were finished, "Evil Eyes" and "IT - The Gathering". Excited by the fast progress everybody returned home and continued their songwriting and mp3-sending until there was nine Savage Circus original songs finished.

In February 2005 Thomen began laying down the final drum tracks for the debut album at Hammer studios (formerly known as Karo Studios) with Piet. Following the drum recordings Piet recorded the final rythm guitars and bass tracks. Shortly after Emil and Jens headed to Hamburg again to record their respective guitar and vocal parts. Just before mixing the album Thomen made the decision to leave his former band for reasons left to Thomen and the members of Blind Guardian. This however made Savage Circus his main band. As this was only meant to be a side project from the beginning it suddenly became somewhat more serious. Piet, together with Rolf Köhler delivered the backing vocals for the album, and after this an extensive mixing and finalizing session took place.

During the summer 2005 the members of Savage Circus will engage in various promotional activities around Europe preceding the release of the album on August 29th. Different prospects for touring and playing live are being discussed and any news about this will be featured at the Official Website as soon as it is confirmed.


Source: Official website (http://www.savage-circus.com)