Band:	Leverage
Album:	Circus Colossus
Style:	Progressive heavy metal, Symphonic power metal
Release date:	November 04, 2009
Guest review by:	-Mayhem-

01. Rise
02. Wolf And The Moon
03. Movie Gods
04. Worldbeater
05. Rider Of Storm
06. Legions Of Invisible
07. Revelation
08. Don't Keep Me Waiting
09. Prisoners
10. Broken Wings
11. Mean And Evil [Japanese bonus]
12. Walk On Home [Japanese bonus]

Leverage had already released two great melodic metal albums before hitting the jackpot. On their third album called Circus Colossus it seems like the band took a huge leap forward and maybe this successful album will open new doors to them too.

Well why was it so successful? First of all the band performs just great. Especially the vocalist Pekka Heino who manages to amaze from the very first moment his voice is heard on the album. The band has also improved their songwriting a bit and the album doesn't have even one worthless song on it. There are a lot more keyboards than on their previous release Blind Fire but also some new symphonic elements have been added. I think that the symphonic sound fits the overall style of Circus Colossus very well and isn't overused at all. Solos and vocal parts are well balanced and one cannot complain a bit about the quality of either one.
The album has lots of variety and the listener will travel as if on a symphonic rollercoaster through the maze of progressiveness and finally arrives to see the sun setting in the sea of melodic metal.

What really amazes me is how original the band sounds even though they don't seem to bring anything new to the genre. I can't name any direct resemblance to any other band I know. So they did not reinvent the wheel but learned a new way to use it instead. My definite favourite song on this album is the closer "Broken Wings". It is unique how one song can be so epic, fast, catchy and emotion filled at the same time. The production is quite good and I have no complaints or anything about it. At times the sound has a bit of a kick and at times when the symphonic elements are raging the roughness just disappears nicely just the way it is supposed to.

All in all Leverage managed to make one of the best melodic metal albums of 2009 and any fan of the genre should be interested in checking this band out.