Review: Eden Circus – Irrlicht

Style: Progressive rock, alternative rock, alternative metal (99% clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Thrice, Oceansize, Porcupine Tree
Country: Germany
Release date: 22 August 2025

You know which band really aged well? Thrice. Despite emerging out of the post-hardcore scene of the late 90s, Thrice always had an unabashedly progressive streak. A willingness to dabble in different genres (metal, folk, trip-hop), experimentation with odd meters (“Firebreather”, “Blur”, “Blood Clots and Black Holes”), and a fascination with theme and concept (Vheissu, The Alchemy Index) showed the Californian quartet had a desire to push the boundaries without sacrificing their mainstream appeal. That they’ve been called “the Radiohead of post-hardcore” should tell you all you need to know, and, much like Radiohead, this makes Thrice a natural gateway prog group. Nevertheless, their proggy flirtations never grew into infatuation, and so I’ve always been on the lookout for that same sound applied to a more progressive ethos.

Apparently my looking-out skills aren’t very good because I missed Eden Circus’ debut in 2014. The German quintet have been silent in the intervening eleven years, but Irrlicht made for a light in the swamp earlier this month. Working with a sonic palette that variously marries up a Thrice-ish alt-rock base with Oceansize-esque post-rock tropes, and more overt prog tendencies akin to Porcupine Tree, their sound has an almost retro feel—if Irrlicht had dropped in 2005 alongside Deadwing, Vheissu, and Everyone Into Position, it would’ve fit in pretty seamlessly. Which isn’t to say Eden Circus sound stale or played out—more like nostalgic. They throw it back to their influences without merely imitating them. Singer Siegmar Pohl has a little Dustin Kensrue (Thrice) in his dry delivery, the riffs hit with that In Absentia / Fear of a Blank Planet heavy prog crunch, and the more involved instrumental moments touch upon Karnivool-esque complexities.

Most tracks are organised around stripped-back, reverb-laden verses, rapidly strummed chords, explosive choruses, and moments of lucid calm. This relatively simple facade belies the group’s love of subtler rhythmic complexities; opener “Stone Itself” is written in 13/8, a time signature expressed in both easier and harder iterations, the nasty syncopated feel in the intro being a harder such iteration. “Needle Your Way” is mostly written in 7/4, while “The Human Abstract” plays with combinations of 7/4, 6/4, and 5/4. Often as not, Irrlicht finds its personality in the offbeats, the syncopation, the wrongfooting details that make the ears prick up; all those ways of expressing the everyday in idiosyncratic forms.

The technical aspects are there for those who want to delve into them, but just playing with rhythmic ideas does not a good album make. Fortunately, Eden Circus are focused primarily on writing strong songs, and they have an adept understanding of tension and release and flow—“The Fall” would sit comfortably on In Absentia with its pensive verses and riff-driven chorus with eerie accompanying lead licks. Satisfying moments abound: the insistent layering that closes “Agnostic Apology”, the post-rock tremolo climax of “Vanquished”; and the metal-coded riff that keeps piercing the facade of “Cynics of Life”, light in its distortion at first, but slowly losing its sense of restraint. The unexpected guitar solo that punctures “Second Dance” unfolds in typical Eden Circus fashion, more a succession of dizzying whammy bar ascents and descents than a melodic legato. Closer “Within Me” sees Irrlicht’s heaviest moments, with an almost doomy chorus, thickly distorted riffs, and some harsh vocals for emphasis (bookending the album neatly alongside “Stone Itself” as the only two tracks to utilise growls, albeit briefly).

If there’s a weakness on Irrlicht, it’s that the mix can wash out Siegmar Pohl’s hoarse timbre; sometimes Eden Circus seem to reach for a particular kind of vocal impact which ultimately eludes them—there are songs where I find myself thinking “this isn’t hitting quite as hard as they intended”. This, unfortunately, detracts a little from a somewhat needed earwormability which may go some way to explaining why, despite the fact every track has its own identity, Irrlicht ends up feeling like a little less than the sum of its parts. its songs somehow seem to work better in isolation than as a full, cohesive listening experience.

Nevertheless, Irrlicht provides a deft fusion of alternative rock aesthetics with the sort of complex rhythmic interplay we hear all too rarely in prog rock. Fans of Oceansize or the more intricate side of Thrice will find plenty to love in Eden Circus’s long-awaited sophomore, as will prog rock fans across the genre. Maybe it’s not quite the proggier Thrice I was looking for, but Irrlicht is damn close to what I imagined. 

Recommended tracks: Stone Itself, The Human Abstract, Within Me
You may also like: East of the Wall, Our Oceans, Hypnagone
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Instagram

Label: Lifeforce Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Eden Circus is:
– Siegmar Pohl (vocals)
– Waik Schöner (guitars)
– Sebastian Scheewe (bass)
– Michael Reinke (drums)
– Dennis (who I assume also plays guitars, these guys are hard to find info on)