Circuition is the long awaited (five-year wait) successor of our debut full-length Severance of Serenity, by Dutch melodic death metal quintet, Nephylim. This seven-tracker sophomore release has been released on March 7th 2025 through the band itself and distributed by Hard Life Promotion.

Similarly like the debut album, and according to the press material, Circuition is a concept-based album in which the concepts of ‘the cycle of life and ‘the wheel of fate’ are elaborated. Thus, each song on the record is connected to a meaning or state of being, like the origin of life: birth, consequences of old age, or everyone’s perception on the circulation of life. I find this concept very original, dealing with subjects that most rationally thinking people can relate to?!

It doesn’t make any sense for me to compare this latest opus to its predecessor since I never got familiar with it. What I can tell is, with this release, I feel as the band has taken some chances, by pushing boundaries on the overall (flawless) production and quality, music and lyrical compositions.

Since Circuition is a concept album, we witness a band trying to push the genre barriers. They’ve still built their songs around some catchy hooks, all the songs have a riff that stands out. At the same time, they make an effort not to have any filler on the album. Having said that, I feel as Circuition is also a bit complex, but with every time the record has been coming through my speakers, I had to admit that I unexpectedly discovered some new sounds and nuances that I didn’t notice with previous spin. And then there is this atmospheric and ambient part of their music that really manages to hold the listener in the experience that the music collectively creates, and which at the same time creates an escape from what you surround yourself with in your life.

Under ‘normal circumstances’ it’s hard to pick favorite songs when we’re dealing with a concept album, but I need to mentioned two songs that, in my opinion, stand out from the rest, namely; “Grand Denial”, being the strongest song on this album, with catchy & groovy riffs and incredibly powerful vocal performance. Another of my favorite songs is the second single, and title-track, “Circuition” (listen to the song below) mainly due to some beautifully tender moments and melodies within a just above five minutes playing time.

It will be interesting to see what else the Dutch band has in store for us, in the hopefully not too distant future. Circuition is a proof that this Dutch quintet still has an incredible amount to offer. Especially recommended for fans of melodic death and viking metal and bands as Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork, Amorphis or Evergrey.

For aditional information on this thirty-eight minutes long, 6-panel digipak physical release, go to https://nephylimnl.bandcamp.com/album/circuition