Metal Band of the Week:
Russian Circles
September 12, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: Band, Metal, Music, Review, Russian Circles
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For a genre that has become increasingly complicated, subdivided, and defensive, one core characteristic can be found across all flavors of metal: budding bands feel the need to take their sound to extremes within their chosen subgenre – whether that means faster, darker, more complex, or more brutal is irrelevant. Russian Circles manages to behave quite the opposite of most bands, with arguably better results, by producing vocals-free music that’s intriguing, original, and, most importantly, quite varied.
The release of their first full-length album, “Enter”, in 2006 marked the debut of this three-member instrumental metal band from Chicago, and quickly proved their aims to be different than most. Having achieved a cohesive sound that is difficult to classify, Russian Circles produces music that ranges from brutal and grating to delicate and emotional, without listeners ever questioning the lack of vocals. “Enter” opens with a common theme of the band on “Carpe”, combining significant delay with a barely-distorted guitar sound on a complex, haunting riff. As each song progresses seamlessly into the next, themes of aggression, sadness, hope, and joy can be felt through the expressive use of musical talent, complex instrumentation, delicate timing, and careful arrangements.
With the 2008 arrival of “Station”, Russian Circle’s sophomore effort, the band clearly defined their affinity for their rather unique sound, and produced a worthy sequel to “Enter”. All the characteristics, themes, and notable elements of their previous recordings form the basis of the album, but they are both extended and layered to produce something considerably more epic and progressive. The use of droning sounds, feedback, and atmospheric noise complement the significantly more articulated guitars in a 43-minute experimental metal exercise that eclipses its 44-minute predecessor. If “Malko”, the first single of the upcoming album “Geneva”, is any indication, their experimentation, originality, and unique ability to seamlessly jump between disparate genres will be continued to great success.
The band describes itself as experimental, progressive metal, but in fact they are much closer to what is commonly referred to as “post-metal” than any other labels – their emphasis on atmospheric sounds and slow song progressions put them in the same realm as Burst, Rosetta, and Isis. At times, however, it would seem that Russian Circles is directly channeling the spirits of bands almost entirely different than themselves, achieving moments of violent Mastodon-esque sludge, orchestrating song buildup with Dream Theater-sized results, and layering time signatures that Tool’s Maynard James Keenan would be proud of.
Currently on a tour across the United States, Russian Circles can be found on MySpace; the upcoming release of “Geneva” [CD] is available for preorder on Amazon prior to its October 20th release, along with their two other full-length albums “Station” [CD] [MP3] and “Enter” [CD] [MP3].
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
