Album review: Blaze Bayley – Circle of Stone

By DAN SOUTHALL

WE all know the Blaze Bayley story by now and if you don’t, go do your own research.  He has been around a long time, for most of the last 24 years as a fiercely independent artist forever working away on the traditional album release, tour, repeat cycle. The lifestyle and age caught up with him early in 2023 and his heart let him down. Lucky for his fans after some surgery and recovery time he is back like nothing happened.

The album is literally one of two sides. Side A a collection of unconnected tracks that allow Blaze to stretch his already considerable voice. Straight away Bayley and his backing band (made up from the band Absolva) rip straight into “Mind Reader”, a classic metal face melter with the power and passion people have come to expect. This frenetic energy continues through the opening salvo of tracks before the brakes are applied on the introspective “Broken Man”, a track that sees him taking a long hard look at himself and his health scare, while thanking his fanbase in his own way for standing behind him and supporting him throughout. Both guitarists, Luke and Chris Appleton, get to stretch out their solo playing abilities with some brilliant leads that drag the lyrical content into a more positive musical light.

Side B is different: a short story of chasing one’s dreams while keeping an eye on what came before to prevent making the same mistakes. Blaze is a great story teller so he doesn’t need to tie things together; the fact he does is an added bonus. The first track on this side is a Celtic driven instrumental piece that serves as the cinematic opener. The real stuff starts with the album title track, one of the more mid-paced tracks on the album as it sets up the story line. “Absence” is one of the heavier tracks across the album, a great show of the the power of Blaze’s vocals and still amazes. While he never has had the range of his contemporaries, he has always had amazing power and it is great to see that he hasn’t lost any of that since heart surgery.  

I have always been a champion of Blaze’s and thought that his last album left nothing on the table. But yet again with the power of the band behind him and their combined focus this is an album that deserves your attention. If you are a fan of metal, spend the money on a physical copy. If they are coming through your town go see them. This album is just one more in a canon of superior releases and the more support artists like this get, the more we can all enjoy releases as brilliant as this.
Buy Circle Of Stone