Detailed Reviews [Flying Circus - 2025 - "The Eternal Moment"]

Prolusion. German band Flying Circus is one of those bands that have flown under the radar of many progressive rock fans, despite releasing studio albums at a regular pace for the past 25 years or so. This year they have a new album out. This production is called "The Eternal Moment", and was released through German label Fastball Music towards the end of the fall season in 2025.

Analysis. Flying Cirus is a band that is self described as exploring a combination of progressive rock and hard rock. My experience with the band so far indicates that they are rather fond of the music made in the 1970s, and that is a matter that you can easily hear also on this most recent album of theirs. The vocals of Michael Dorp are a vital ingredient in that context, with a voice that does come with similarities to a certain Robert Plant, in tone and timbre as well as how he choose to use his voice and to stretch his vocals to the outer ranges of what he is capable of. Which does make for a rather intense and emotionally laden delivery at times, and a matter that may take a little bit of time getting used too for those who are new to this band. Otherwise we get thrown right into the mix and blend of elements the band choose to operate from the onset here, where opening track 'A Talk with the Dead' does a fine job in combining moods and atmospheres reminding of olden days Black Sabbath with majestic, layered and melodic arrangements and keyboard textures that combines into more of a Genesis like creation. With a little bit of a folk music flavoring and a subtle side step into later day Led Zeppelin landscapes appearing along the way. This ebb and flow between more progressive rock oriented arrangements with side steps or inclusions of hard rock elements is a bit of a prevalent feature for the rest of this album too, but more often than not with an emphasis on the progressive rock flavored part of the combination. In the slight exceptions department we have a band like Gentle Giant that are given a solid nod in the the charming instrumental 'Pilikua Ahai', but otherwise hard rock and progressive rock are having regular dates just about everywhere else here. While Led Zeppelin in general and the later day era of that band in particular have their calling cars left on a number of occasions here, tom the point that Zeppelinesque details is a bit of an identity mark, the aforementioned Genesis, Deep Purple and possibly King Crimson as well as Van der Graaf Generator may have been possible sources of inspiration top a lesser or greater degree too. With folk and world music details also appearing on a fairly regular basis, albeit mainly as more of a subtle inclusion. The mix and production also appear to have been executed in a manner that highlights the classic era sound of this band. It is very much a modern quality to this department, but everything from vocals to the individual instruments does come across as having a bit more lof a vintage feel to them. If that is more of an accidental result or a planned result from deliberate choices I don't know, but it does suit the material explored on this album very well indeed.

Conclusion. Flying Circus was a bit of a surprise find for me some years back, and having listened to greater parts of their back catalogue at this point I do find the band to be a consistent provider of strong and solid material in the classic era hard rock meets progressive rock vein. This is very much the case also on this latest album of theirs, and if I should pinpoint a specific audience then it would be those who really enjoy Led Zeppelin's albums from the second half of the 1970s just as much as they tend to enjoy 1970s progressive rock in general. A solid album, yet again, by Flying Circus.

Progmessor: November 2025
The Rating Room