El Paso, TX’s metalcore band CIRCA ARCANA (for fans of Underoath, Blessthefall, Wage War) are releasing their new EP “Bridget Viginti” on February 18th, and today we’re pleased to give you its early stream, with a special track by track rundown and the band’s ‘top acts worth a check’ list below!
Circa Arcana formed during the pandemic, and after trial and error, lots of ups and downs, and adjusting to a new way of collaborating, have a debut EP ready for the world to hear. They have already released two of the five tracks as video singles, and listeners eagerly dove into the cacophony of breakdowns juxtaposed with infectious choruses that are easy to sing along to.
Guitarist Johny Serna explains the record: “This EP touches on a lot of deep concepts. I have always been a believer that a song should be interpreted by the listener and in one’s personal interpretation one can find their meaning to the song. We do touch on dark themes, some personal stuff, and some dark conceptual stuff. But honestly, if you want to figure out meanings to the songs, you’re gonna have to dig a little deeper to figure those out! We incorporate a lot of symbolism on our social accounts, our videos, photos, etc. All I can say is if you enjoyed “Esoteric” and “The Tower” then you are definitely going to enjoy this release!”
Musically, the EP takes you through a journey, as you go through the record you can listen to all the nuances that you heard in the opening song “Ten Of Swords”. It is followed by “The Chariot”, the reckless powerhouse on the EP, three minutes of nonstop in-your-face aggression. Then comes the “arena metal” anthem “The Tower”, which is quick to pick up. Things get a bit lighter with “Luna”, a beautiful song with few screams. Closing the record is “Esoteric” the first song written for the band and the first single. It’s an eerie song, lyrically touching on the topic of addiction and overcoming it.
As a whole musically, the EP is a fast-paced rollercoaster to the face with the songs flowing together and showing a strong diversity in their music styles.
Circa Arcana presents a solid first effort and is recommended for fans of Wage War, Like Moths To Flames and We Came As Romans.
“Musically the album takes you through a journey.” – comments guitarist Johny Serna.
“We decided to start it off with 10 of Swords which we felt was a great opener of a song for our listeners. It gives off the best impression of the sound that is Circa Arcana. As the listener goes through the record you can hear all the nuances that you heard in the opening song.”
“As a whole musically I can say the record is a fast-paced, Rollercoaster to the face album. We are really excited for everyone to hear it!”
Track By Track commentary, explained by Johny Serna
“10 of Swords is the opening track to the record. It really shows the diversity of the sound to Circa Arcana. The song ties in clean ambient hooks with a melodic chorus, a plethora of synth and string production, and finishes with a death punch of a breakdown. This song really shows off the multitude of influences based within our music and captures a little of everything for the listener to enjoy!”
“The Chariot. This song is our reckless powerhouse on the album. 3 minutes of non-stop in-your-face aggression. When we wrote this song we wanted it to be a call to action, make you get up on your feet type of song. It incorporates groove-ish moving riffs, a killer breakdown, and even a Viking chant. Definitely, one of our favorites to perform live!”
“The Tower. This is our “arena metal” song as well as our second single. If you listen to the lyrics carefully it’s one hell of a story. The song started off with the opening lead. Originally all I had written was probably the first 30 seconds to the track and after I showed the rest of the guys we quickly figured out a pattern for it and knocked it out. Frankie actually came up with that breakdown for it, still one of my favorites. The entire song is a headbanger from start to finish. Personally, my favorite thing about this song is when we play it live people can easily catch on to the chorus and sing along.”
“Luna. Luna was actually originally written by Frank. Frank is a badass songwriter and one day when we were just kicking it after rehearsal he showed it to me. If I remember correctly it was a song he had written over a year or two ago and had recently found the file on his laptop. I loved the idea immediately and we decided to re-write it from scratch. It’s the lightest song on the record, hardly any screams but a beautiful song!”
“Esoteric. Esoteric was the first single we released as a band. We started writing the song off of the chorus riff. That riff was something I had written about 4 years ago when I played with Frank in another local band but we never did anything with it. When we first formed Circa and were trying to start writing some songs he remembered that riff. I had to find an old phone recording to remember what he was talking about. We built the song up pretty quickly from there. It’s definitely an eerie song, lyrically touching on the topic of addiction and overcoming it.”
