What do you expect from a band that is described as modern hard rock with a lot of melody and shredding guitar solos? Right, modern hard rock with a lot of melody and shredding guitar solos. Duh…Recording artist Phil Vincent is virtually a one man band. He has released a number of albums under his own name on which all music was written, arranged, performed, produced and mixed by him. This time he recruited a number of musicians and formed Circular Logik. The first record being aptly titled One is mainly just available through online mail-order.

 

Reviewers write about Phil Vincent’s voice being like a cross between Don Dokken and Paul McCartney. I partially agree, it doesn’t mean that fans of these artists should go out and buy the record blindfolded. Don’t fall into that trap, because I have a hunch that most of these reviews are written by friends of the band. They are just too damn positive. The record is good, but I do have some reservations about it.

The disc opens with ‘Welcome Home’ which turns out to be the heaviest song on the record. It is nice, but I guess I’m spoiled. It doesn’t really send shivers up my spine. It has mainly to do with the kind of predictability that the first two tracks have. The third song begins with a surprisingly cool acoustic groove that builds into a strong riff and a blistering lead guitar solo. And also ‘Right Here’ is quite a cool song.

Yes, indeed here we are with the modern hard rock with a lot of melody and shredding guitar solos. The guitar work is good in its own right, but hell there are just too many clichés. There are moments on One which tend to lead to unfamiliar roads, just to come back to the downtrodden paths again.

I sincerely believe that Phil and Co. can come up with way better material than this. And the hints are hidden like easter eggs on this album. A song like ‘Time Killer’ exactly proves my point. The vocal lines are predictable; the instrumental parts are, if you listen carefully, quite surprising. I hope that Circular Logik won't be running around in circles in future.