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Circus Maximus made a huge splash on the progressive metal scene in 2005 with their debut CD, “The 1st Chapter,” but they caught some flack for taking too many of their cues from the reigning godfathers of the genre, “Dream Theater.” The second time out, they’ve done a decent job working around that problem, and along the way, they seem to have found their own niche, mixing strong technical chops with a sense of melody sometimes lacking in the progressive metal genre. The result, Isolate, is leaps and bounds ahead of the debut album, but...there’s definitely a “but” there. If you’re a fan of "Dream Theater" school of prog metal, just go out and buy the disc already, and you can thank me later. For the rest of you, there’s plenty to recommend about Isolate, but I feel almost compelled to lay out the caveats before getting into the raving.

The thing is, even though the subgenre is relatively young, it has already seen a a couple of eras, had touchstone bands and labels come and go, same as every other genre. At times, the production on Isolate, is too slick, reminiscent of some of the bands that came out on Magna Carta records late in the 90s. And as with so many prog metal outfits, there is an occasional tendency towards cheese, as exhibited in overload on, Arrival of Love. Maybe it’s being elitist, but I really don’t need to hear a progressive metal band singing, “Morning came/I could see you lying there/your body next to mine/God you looked so fine,” like some love struck boy band. Part of the problem is that, Isolate is a generally gloomy disc, as befitting its concept album storyline about a man descending into madness, a fact that might explain why Arrival of Love sticks out so jarringly from the rest of the album.

Thankfully, Circus Maximus doesn’t approach the cheese-level of this track anywhere else on the album.

Instead, the Norwegian outfit gives life to a CD that is chock full of seriously catchy melodies, soaring riffs, and incredible vocals, courtesy of Michael Eriksen, who might be the best metal vocalist I’ve heard in a good long time. A Darkened Mind opens the disc in fine fashion, displaying both the band’s chops, and accessible, melodic progressive metal stylings. Abyss amply back up the initial taste with the heaviest (and best!) track the album has to offer, as the protagonist starts his slide, “I stand at the edge of the abyss and I wait to fall.”

Wither, continues the defragmentation, before the labyrinthine instrumental, Sane No More, sets up the aforementioned, Arrival of Love. In Wither and Sane No More, Circus Maximus exhibits their "Dream Theater" influences, with the instrumental, especially, sounding as if it emerged from the minds of Messrs. Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess.

The second half of the album takes a slight dive along with the protagonist, not quite living up to the brilliance of the first 4 tracks, but it’s still pretty darn cool music. Zero starts the latter portion off in ballad mode, with new keyboardist Lasse Finbrate setting the scene with a portentous piano score. The dramatic outro of Zero gives way to the 12+ minute Mouth of Madness, the character’s last stop prior to the fall. A relatively calm opening segment soon gives way to bombastic instrumentation and vocal lines.

Childhood’s Hour follows up, existing more in the realm of AOR, as opposed to metal, and is a bit of a disappointment, although nowhere as bad as Arrival of Love. The album ends back on a high note, with Ultimate Sacrifice, successfully straddling the line between both those worlds.

With Isolate, Circus Maximus have found a voice of their own, and established a melodic niche in the prog metal genre. Despite a few flaws, Isolate, is a pretty good album, and certainly marks Circus Maximus, as a band to keep watching as they develop further over the next few years.