Band : Ohm
Album title : Circus Of Sound
Record label : Shrapnel
Distributor : Mascot - PIAS
Release date : September 2008 (US= 26/08/2008)
Release : (Digipak) CD

This American Fusion Rock outfit is centered around guitarist Chris Poland, who first rose to fame with Megadeth (with whom he recorded the first two albums and from whence he was fired on the accusation that he was stealing and selling band gear). After leaving, he took a successful treatment for his substance abuse, and returned to the music forum as bassist for Punk Rock legends The Circle Jerks.

Before recording his 1990 solo album Return To Metropolis (a Fusion/ metal album issued through Enigma,re-issued in 2002 with 2 bonus tracks. For the guitarist this was a return to an old love, as he’d been active with Jazz Fusion band New Yorkers prior to being enlisted in Megadeth. By the way, from the same band Dave Mustaine also recruited drummer Gar Samuelson), Poland turned down to offers to rejoin Megadeth. During the ‘90s the guitarist was occupied with two projects, first Damn the Machine (which issued a 1993 self-titled album) and then Mumbo’s Brain (album released in 1995= Excerpts From The Book Of Mumbo).

The year 2000 would see two Chris Poland credited albums released, first the new studio album Chasing The Sun, next a compilation called Rare Trax. In early 2003 Poland started Ohm with bassist Robertino Pagliari (formerly with…surprise, surprise…New Yorkers) and drummer David Eagle (whom would soon be replaced by the legendary Ginger Baker’s son Kofi). That same year would see a threefold of things happen: the release of Ohm’s self-titled debut album (reviewed by yours truly at the time), Poland playing a guest solo of Lamb Of God’s album As The Palaces Burn (something which would be done again the year after on the Ashes Of The Wake album), and Dave Mustaine inviting Poland to play the lead guitar on his 2004 Megadeth album The System Has Failed.
Finnish label Lion Music, who’d re-issued the Return To Metropolis in 2002, issued the live album Live On KPFK 90.7FM Pacifica Radio in 2004…and in October 2005’s Amino Acid Flashback (original working title Compass Of The Heart) album brought new studio material (stuff which regretably never got sent to Concrete Web, I’m afraid). Poland also took out time to contribute a guest appearance on the Pharaoh album The Longest Night (released that same year).

Poland’s third Ohm album Circus Of Sound shows an artist and band which have come to full fruition both songwriting-wize as technically…and slightly more Rock-oriented tracks are thrown in for extra variety, as a breather moment in between the more complex Jazz Fusion tunes! Check out a couple of tracks off the new album (alongside a few older tracks) at myspace.com/chrispolandohm (I’m sure you’ll find more available tracks on other music sites as well – why not try chrispoland.com, or either last.fm and purevolume.com?). Personally, I already loved what he did with the first Ohm album, but Circus Of Sound is defitely of a quality which elevates it into my “Best Albums Of 2008”-list!

98/100

Tony.