CIRCULAR LOGIK – One

Stateside musician Phil Vincent is perhaps one of “underground” Hard Rock’s most underrated and hardest working musicians. Phil has no less than nine solo albums in the last twelve years along with 2007’s commendable Poetic Justice release by the Vincent-led band called Tragik. Most of these you could successfully wager as being self-financed.

It’s hard not to use the phrase “underground” in relation to Vincent’s music and accomplishments, as he has so many memorable musical moments — but likely a small portion have probably hit the “mainstream” listener’s ears! Regardless, with the tenacity of a double cappuccino caffeinated bull in a ring full of matadors wearing red, Phil persists onward determined to hit stardom. It’s in the vein of this spirit that Vincent is back leading a new project entitled Circular Logik, loosely named after his 2001 solo album of the same name (dropping the “c” in “Logic” for a “k”).

Circular Logik includes some familiar names from Vincent’s past as the band is composed of fellow musicians who had loaned their talents on previous Vincent solo works. One features thirteen tracks of mostly classic Melodic Hard Rock complete with a few obligatory ballads.

If you’ve never heard Vincent’s work his vocals are a cross between Don Dokken and (gasp) Paul McCartney. Additionally, Vincent plays some classic 80’s guitar models in Jackson, Gibson and more importantly Charvel which really helps beef up the rhythm guitar sounds on this album and give it that Dokken-esque sound. Take, for example, the album opener “Welcome Home” which opens up with some truly blistering lead guitar that rides shotgun on some great, and beefy rhythm guitars. All of this is wrapped by some commendable melodic vocals by Vincent and two additional blistering lead breaks which when all combined makes this track an instant Hard Rock classic. Follow-up track “Killing Me Inside”, while containing less lead guitar, still has the same equal heaviness as the opener thanks in part to the thick rhythm sounds.

Not all is as exceptional as the first two tracks as cuts like “Hard To Find” also Rock but seemingly at the cost of exuding overall slightly more Pop vibes than Hard Rock. Of course there’s the occasional ballad and even a Bluesy ballad track in “You Make Me Weak” which is followed up by a song that has dashes of Punk/Glam in it (“Your Time Has Come”). While most of these are acceptable and certainly Metal Express Radio worthy it all adds up to a release that kind of shoots bullets in a scatter pattern. If Vincent had stuck to the winning Hard Rock formula of the first two tracks throughout the release it would certainly have garnered a label of being “exceptional”. Nevertheless, of the thirteen tracks offered here nine remain pieces of entertaining and catchy, albeit diverse, Melodic Hard Rock with plenty of attention grabbing lead and rhythm work. Overall the album still nets the release a tag of “commendable”! As this review closes we find the newest Phil Vincent solo album on Metal Express Radio desks waiting to be reviewed next! Keep at it tenacious Phil as all your hard work will most assuredly garner deserved attention!

Lineup

Phil Vincent – Vocals, Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards
Steven Albanese – Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars
William V. Arnold – Bass, Percussion
Tanion DeAngelis – Drums
William Roux – Lead Guitars