Circus Maximus

I

n 2000 long-time band mates Michael Eriksen (vocals) and brothers Mats (guitar) and Truls Haugen (drums) were joined by keyboardist Espen Storø and Glen Cato Møllen (bass) to form Circus Maximus.

Initially being a cover band, the act got a lot of positive feedback for their interpretations of technically challenging material like songs of Dream Theater and Symphony X. Within short order, the band started writing their own songs: With other influences varying from pop/rock through classical progressive rock to Heavy and death metal, their music morphed into a mixture of melodic and groovy sound with heavy riffs and odd time signatures . In the musical press their sound has been compared to Queensryche, TNT, Shadow Gallery, Pretty Maids, Helloween and their like.

Their two debut demos to received fair reviews in Norway, as well as in Europe and USA, before signing with Danish Intromental Management in April, 2004, the deal also resulted in a record deal with American record label 'Sensory Records' for the USA and Canada, which in turn forwarded a licensing deal for Europe and Russia to 'Frontiers Records'.