I will go straight right from here: The album I will be talking about is not for everyone. The genre is called "funeral doom metal" - that one genre most notoriously known for their severely long and black hole like songs. Like the title indicates, this album will take you to the "End of the Circle". I'll give you all a quick hint: A circle has no end.

The songs in this three-track album are not the typical metal you would play in your high school or college battle of the bands. The shortest song - "The Withering Part II - Of Long Dead Stars" is 21 minutes long, while the longest song "End of the Circle" is 34 minutes long. (Because seriously, circles aren't even supposed to have ends). The remaining song, "The Withering Part I - Of Hollow Us" is roughly six seconds longer than the shortest one.

The first and longest song begins as a typical funeral doom metal song, full of heaviness, gloomy mood, slow buildup and a very strong gravity. That trend changes with a sudden outburst of blasts and evil shrieks and growls in the tenth minute of the song. The transition is so perfect, that just when you feel real bored and poker-faced, a big eruption comes in trembling like a dying star. And when the blitzkrieg ends, they come back to a mid-tempo (on a funeral doom basis) approach, and continues forth this style till the end of the song. The whole listening experience is already like listening to a full-length album, but it doesn't seem to end. (Have I already mentioned that circles have no ends?)

The Second song "The Withering Part I - Of Hollow Us" is mostly similar to the first song in terms of form and approach, except that it is more eventful even if it's thirteen minutes shorter than its predecessor. The addition of that brief guitar solo in the middle of the song made it much more commendable than the first song. Also, the drumming is a lot busier this time around, hence creating more melodies with the keys. Meanwhile, the third and shortest song is merely a continuation of the exhibit featured by the second song.

One might say that this kind of metal is lame, boring, lazy, etc. But that's fine, each of us has our own opinion on what a "good" metal song is - and as I already mentioned in the opening of this review, this kind of metal is not from everyone. And I too am not a big fan of these crazy long songs. However, as a critic, here's my say: writing, playing and recording long-ass songs is not easy business. Trying to create a song a couple of minutes longer than five minutes is already a seriously difficult thing to do, what more if you are shooting for thirty? This kind of metal is never easy - never easy to write, never easy to get signed, never easy to be released, and yes, let's face it, it's never easy to appreciate. But the talent required to craft this kind of stuff has to be tremendous, and that talent surely deserves to be commended and recognized.