The 1st Chapter is the debut album by the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 band, Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus (Norwegian band)

Circus Maximus is a Norwegian progressive metal quintet from Oslo. They employ the use of symphonic, power and glam metal influences in their vocals which have a high-pitched tone, along with synthesizers and occasional keyboards...

. The 1st Chapter was released on June 7, 2005 in the United States and on May 14, 2005 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The on-going theme of The 1st Chapter is about "the journey" to salvation

Salvation

Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...

 expressed through the lyrics. Musically, it sports a circus-like theme (that actually can be heard) playing throughout the album.

The lyrics to the song "Glory of the Empire" refer heavily to the 2000 film, Gladiator

Gladiator (2000 film)

Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...

.

The 1st Chapter contains (as of 2009), the longest running Circus Maximus song with "The 1st Chapter" running for 19 minutes and 7 seconds.

Track listing

1. "Sin" – 5:53
2. "Alive" – 5:38
3. "Glory of the Empire" – 10:27
4. "Biosfear"(Instrumental) – 5:22
5. "Silence from Angels Above" – 4:07
6. "Why Am I Here?" – 6:05
7. "The Prophecy" – 6:44
8. "The 1st Chapter" – 19:07
9. "Haunted Dreams" – 7:12 (Demo Track Bonus for Europe Only)
10. "Imperial Destruction" – 6:45 (Demo Track Bonus for United States Only)
11. "Marion" - 6:12 (Demo Track Bonus for Japan Only)

Personnel

• Michael Eriksen – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Mats Haugen – guitars
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Truls Haugen – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , backing vocals
• Glen Cato Møllen – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Espen Storø – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  

Production

• Produced by Circus Maximus
• Mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (Jailhouse Studios)
• Artwork by Mattias Norèn (Progart Media)
• Layout and logo by Claus Jensen (Intromental Design)

External links

• Official Circus Maximus website