The album contains the work of Manilla Road founder and frontman Mark Shelton who assembled a new band named Circus Maximus.

Manilla Road had dissolved during the sessions for The Courts of Chaos, and lead songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Mark Shelton began working on a new project.

The recording process for the album involved his high school friends Andrew Coss and Aaron Brown, with the new band to be named Circus Maximus.

However, his record label Black Dragon released the album as the work of Manilla Road and named it The Circus Maximus instead, despite the project having an entirely different sound.

According to AllMusic, many of the tracks "showcased bassist/composer Coss's remarkably soulful, Glenn Hughes-styled pipes to perfection, while providing unprecedented dynamic space over which Shelton could expand his six-string soloing vocabulary."