Circle II Circle is an American heavy metal band from

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. The band was formed by former

Savatage Savatage () is an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...

lead vocalist

Zachary Stevens Zachary Trussell (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal bands Circle II Circ ...

and longtime friend and band manager Dan Campbell in 2001. They play varied genres of metal including traditional heavy metal,

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

and

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

History

For a period of eight years from 1992 until August 2000, Zachary Stevens was the lead singer of

. After five albums with the group, he left in 2000 citing family reasons. During the winter of 2001, Zak started his comeback with long-time friend and co founder of the band, Dan Campbell, co-writing material with former Savatage lead singer

Jon Oliva John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva (born July 22, 1959) is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva. Si ...

and guitarist

Chris Caffery Christopher Caffery (born September 9, 1967) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Caffery has been releasing solo records singing and playing g ...

what would become the songs for the Circle II Circle debut album, ''

Watching in Silence ''Watching in Silence'' is the debut astudio album by the American heavy metal band Circle II Circle, released in 2003. It featured guest appearances from lead vocalist Zachary Stevens's former band mates from Savatage, Jon Oliva and Chris ...

''. The second CIIC record '' The Middle of Nowhere'' featured Zak's vocals along with band members Paul Michael Stewart, Andy Lee, Tom Drennan and Evan Christopher. The band's third release was a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, entitled '' Burden of Truth'', based around the concept of Jesus' descendants. It was released on June 6, 2006. Stevens and the band then signed with Intromental Management. Their fourth album, entitled ''

Delusions of Grandeur Delusions of grandeur, also known as grandiose delusions (GDs) or expansive delusions, are a subtype of delusion characterized by the extraordinary belief that one is famous, omnipotent, wealthy, or otherwise very powerful or of a high status. ...

'', was released on April 25, 2008. Artwork for the band's logo and first three album covers were designed by Dan Campbell and rendered by artist Thomas Ewerhard. Additional artwork for the concept album ''Consequence of Power'' (2010) was created by

Claudio Bergamin Claudio Bergamin is a Chilean/Italian fantasy artist. He creates album covers for rock bands and book covers for paranormal authors. Artwork Bergamin's style is realistic fantasy illustration. He has created artwork for a wide number of rock ...

. On January 25, 2013, Circle II Circle released their ''Seasons will Fall'' album on earMusic. The live album, ''Bootleg Live at Wacken 2012'', was released on June 20, 2014. A studio album, '' Reign of Darkness'', was released on October 16, 2015. On December 7, 2016, their former drummer, Adam Sagan, died from cancer at the age of 35.

Personnel

File:2014-10-25 Circle II Circle 005.jpg, Zak Stevens File:2014-10-25 Circle II Circle 017.jpg, Paul Michael "Mitch" Stewart File:2014-10-25 Circle II Circle 007.jpg, Christian Wentz File:Doro-49 (53065620566) (cropped).jpg, Bill Hudson File:2014-10-25 Circle II Circle 001.jpg, Adam Sagan File:2014-10-25 Circle II Circle 012.jpg, Henning Wanner

Current members

– lead vocals (2001–present), keyboards * Paul Michael "Mitch" Stewart – bass guitar, keyboards (2003–present) * Bill Hudson – guitars (2008–2009, 2012–2013, 2015-present) * Christian Wentz – guitars (2012–present) * Marcelo Moreira – drums (2015–present) * Henning Wanner – keyboards (2012–present)

Former members

* Matt LaPorte – guitars (2001–2003, died 2011) * John Zahner – keyboards (2001–2003) * Kevin Rothney – bass (2001–2003) * Christopher Kinder – drums (2001–2003) * Tom McDyne – lead guitar (2003–2004) * Tom Drennan – drums (2003–2009) * Evan Christopher – guitars (2004–2008) * Marc Pattison – guitars (2014–2015, died 2020) *

Oliver Palotai Oliver Palotai (born 17 March 1974) is a German musician, best known as a member of the power metal band Kamelot and of Doro Pesch's touring band. Career He made his name playing keyboards and guitar for Doro and keyboards for Circle II Circ ...

– keyboards (2006–2007) * Johnny Osborn – drums (2009–2011) * Rollie Feldman – guitars (2010–2011) * Andy Lee – guitars (2003–2010, 2011) * Adam Sagan – drums (2011–2013, died 2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2003) * '' The Middle of Nowhere'' (2005) * '' Burden of Truth'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Consequence of Power'' (2010) * '' Seasons Will Fall'' (2013) * '' Reign of Darkness'' (2015)

Live albums

* ''Bootleg Live at Wacken 2012'' (2014)

Extended plays

* '' All That Remains'' (2005) * ''Revelations'' (2006) * ''Every Last Thing''/''So Many Reasons'' (2008)

Compilations

* ''Full Circle: The Best of Circle II Circle'' (2012)

References

External links

* *
Circle II Circle
at

Encyclopaedia Metallum Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres ...

{{Authority control 2001 establishments in Florida American musical sextets American power metal musical groups American progressive metal musical groups American symphonic metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Florida Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups from Tampa, Florida Savatage