Northern Europe is the holy land of Heavy Metal. Apart from giving birth to bands that wrote Heavy Metal history in their own way, Europe was also responsible for beginning the careers of bands not native to the old country. Germany holds a special place in all this; she is the Mecca of Heavy Metal, especially for Power and Progressive Metal.
 
RED CIRCUIT is a progressive Metal group from Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany that was formed in 2006. Homeland is their second release; their first was Trance State in 2006. The band musically moves between forms of bands such as DREAM THEATER and KAMELOT, adding personal touches, especially the vocal part.

Chity Somapala (ex-FIREWIND) is an excellent singer; his harsh voice is a perfect fit for the albums concept and music. His voice melts with the beautiful guitar play. Chity adds a special passion to every single note he sings through his extensive vocal range; thus he has the ability to adapt to any musical situation.Chris Moser's guitars are impressive, his solos are well crafted and the riffs bind perfectly with the musical style of the whole album.

Throughout Homeland Markus Taske's production experience is evident. The album is a solid example of good music, but apart from the good music and production, it has nothing new to add to the genre. This is the only problem of Homeland. After listening to the album for a few times I liked it very much but I felt I had heard it all before again. It's NOT a copycat of some band or another, but RED CIRCUIT gave their creative energy to create an album that sounds very similar to many great names of the melodic, progressive side of Metal. Of course this is their second album.

Lyrics are politics and society oriented and very up-to-date in their content. Highlights of the album are Homeland, which is about the war for freedom that eventually brings death, and The World Of Forgotten Sons with its calm piano intro and the wild guitar riff; Absinth is also a good song that shows the capabilities of singer Chiny Somapala.
 
Homeland is an album that will be liked by fans. It can be a good first step for Metal people that want to climb on the train of melodic progressive Metal. I couldn't connect to it though; I couldn't wash away this musical deja vu.