RUSSIAN CIRCLES

When Russian Circles released their 6th full-length album in 2016, they had pretty much established their 3 member line-up, and those members would continue with the band for "Guidance", namely founder Mike Sullivan on guitars, Dave Turncrantz on drums and Brian Cook (originally from the post metal band "Botch" and "These Arms Are Snakes") on bass. The band is obviously familiar with their styles at this point, and it really shows in their music on this album. The sound the original band had when they started is back full-force this time around, where their style of post-rock is very natural sounding instead of forced like many lesser post-rock bands out there. This is why Russian Circles is a highly esteemed band by both fans and critics alike. To understand what I mean by a natural flow to the band's music, you have to listen to this album.

The first half flows easily from one track to another giving the listener the feeling of a single suite-like composition. "Asa" starts off quite melodically with a lovely melody strummed by the electric guitar. After that is established, the song floats along and builds naturally with another guitar buried deeply behind everything chiming out a counter- melody. This is interrupted eventually with a very uneasy feeling as layers build rhythmlessly, then the drums roll in as the other instruments build and boil over, taking us into the 2nd track "Vorel". The guitars are tortured as the bass and drums pound out a solid foundation. This crescendo builds naturally as the track reminds the listener of how the band used to just let the music flow on its own instead of trying to force it. By the end, the music is uneasy and heavy. This is what the band was the best at from the beginning, but they did seem to lose their way somewhere in the middle of their discography, this track will give you the hope that the heart of the band has returned. The music flows right along easily into "Mota", which has a nice plucked sound that accents the moderate beat as a 2nd guitar plays sustained chords like a melody. Almost halfway through this track, the beat tightens up and then slows to a more sludgy sound as the guitar becomes much heavier. All the while, an excellent sense of melody keeps the music grounded as the guitars and bass play with and against each other. After some churning, the music turns into a wall of sound as dissonance and chaos comes in which levels out a bit when the drums pick out a more steady rhythm, but then carries the track to a explosive ending that continues to resonate until it flows into the next track, "Afrika". Drums start to roll stirring up this track, and the guitar chimes out a hymn-like melody as layers build upon each other, yet the melody continues to drive it all forward. Towards the middle of the track, as things quiet down allowing the drums to carry the track forward for a while as the guitars and bass reorganize to start a 2nd theme, this time a bit darker. The band takes advantage of this to build again creating a heavy ending with a reprise of the original melody bringing it to its final climax and then cooling off to the end.

At this point in the album, there is a real break of silence that separate the remainder of the tracks. "Overboard" builds slowly out of that silence with sustained guitar chords droning along. Soon, a slow and soft melody comes in over the drones. Melody takes over again as the melody becomes more apparent and the guitar chimes it out in an arpeggio pattern. This one builds slowly, but remains a bit understated compared to the other tracks, yet it still carries a heavy unease about it as it builds and then slowly releases again. It's a lovely, more pensive sounding track. At the end, the echoing guitar flows into "Calla" which immediately begins with a tenseness which explodes with the addition of the bass and drums. Heavy drums, bass and guitar make this a sludgy affair based more off of chords than melody. This heaviness and thickness lasts through the duration of this track. However, "Lisboa" is even slower acting more like a dirge though it is much quieter and returns to the reliance on melody again. The drums come and go at times leaving the guitar by itself until the 2 minute mark when everything gets loud while maintaining the dirge-like feel as it slowly plods along. This actually paints an effective picture of darkness. Things soften and get more pensive at the 4:30 mark, but the drums quickly bring the heaviness back again as if they haven't quite proven their point yet. It all ends off in an anthem-style state when the guitars are allowed to finally fade off into nothing.

This is really a beautiful album when you let yourself get lost in it. To an outsider that might pass by while you are listening, it may seem heavy and loud, but to listen to it in it's entirety, you feel the power of passion and emotion in the music and it becomes like a collection of classical music done with heavy metal instruments. It is all instrumental, and if you know Russian Circles, then you would already know that. But, lyrics aren't needed to paint the pictures in this music. The amazing thing that separates this band is in the natural way the music flows, sounding not so much like it's structured into a perfect plastic shape, but like it develops smoothly, almost without seams, taking shape the way it is meant to, allowing the instruments to have their say whether it's in a strong and silent way or if it's in a loud and forceful manner, they have the control of the emotion and it all feels real.

Russian Circles, one of the most critically acclaimed post rock instrumental bands, was formed in Chicago Illinois in 2004 by long-time friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz. In 2007, before the band released their second album 'Station', the original bassist Colin DeKuiper parted ways with the band. As a result, Brian Cook, previously from 'Botch' and 'These Arms Are Snakes' sat in as the replacements bassist for 'Station' and soon became a permanent member of Russian Circles. It with this line up, along with Morgan Henderson on double bass, that the 2nd album was recorded and released in 2008.

'Station' pretty much solidified the band's position in the post rock world. It was the first released with their new label Suicide Squeeze and it was recorded in Seattle, Washington. Even with the noted heavy work of Brian Cook in his previous bands, and the reputation of loud, sonically heavy concerts, the band decided to tone it back a bit for this album in order to break away from the typical formula of 'slow build up to an enormous climax' that was plaguing post rock. The move was to incorporate more finger picked guitar notes over the power chord attack of their debut album, even though they didn't ever entirely abandon the heavy metal backdrop of the music. The album has a total of 6 tracks, with a bonus track on the Japanese release that allows the run-time to reach 48 minutes.

'Campaign' starts it all off with the new style as the track begins with the guitars approaching the track cautiously, then slowly building with one guitar playing a repetitive arpeggio style pattern and the other guitar creating a flowing melody, which later intensifies a little off of a repetitive note riff. Minimal percussion pushes things forward, and then it falls back again as a lovely melody begins to be established and the drums begin to establish a steady rhythm in the 4 minute mark. The music is pleasant and flows along well, avoiding any heaviness in exchange for a lovely, melodic tone. 'Harper Lewis' on the other hand, establishes a solid drum beat right at the beginning and the bass starts things to boiling. An ambient style guitar brings out a melody in a smooth connected series of notes which changes to a more pizzicato sound as things build up. Suddenly, within the 2nd minutes, powerful chords start to disrupt the peaceful feeling and heavy guitars begin to chime in as the drums get wilder. Even with this more sonically alive track, the music remains on the smooth side, but the guitars are still allowed to howl a bit like a bohemian monster before things calm to a smoother, and flowing sound when the drums come back in. Again, within the 5th minute, intensity builds and explodes again in another climax that has more staying power. The sound is more melodic than the sludgey sound of the heavier post metal sound, and it is more apt to explore more interesting territory.

'Station' pumps up the excitement right away when the drums tap out a faster, steady beat and the bass and guitars hit along right with the beat, increasing in intensity with each hit, until it all folds into a nice driving rhythm interrupted by the establishment of power chord driven riffs, and memories of the heavier debut album, or the extremeness of the defunct band Botch start to come through. This continues to develop into one of the band's most memorable riffs and tracks, backing off on occasion for the listener to take a breath, and then coasting along before another quick build, false pay off, then sudden surprise climax. This is all within the first 5 minutes, after which, the tempo slows a bit and then the whole thing softens to a solo plucked guitar. At seven minutes, guitar fuzz thickens up the entire thing and a wall of heaviness is created with a minimal use of percussion. There is a quick climax and then the entire thing cools down as the guitars echo to silence.

'Verses' brings in a heavy drone sounding like an approaching airplane that then receeds off into the distance while a jangly guitar arpeggio fades in with a moderately slow drum beat and sustained chords ebb and flow underneath it all. The sustained guitar creates little bouts of dissonant feedback, but also sound a bit like a synth. Then the rhythm irons itself out and a lovely melody is created by the guitar for this atmospheric and lovely track. The real payoff comes at 6 minutes, when it all comes to an emotional and heavier climax. Soon, the music cools off again and sinks back into its softer state. 'Youngblood' gets heavy early on with a faster tempo and a churning guitar building up strength quickly, forcing the drums to go double time. A heavy metal riff then pushes things up another notch and soon your head is bouncing along to the whole thing. Just before 3 minutes, it pulls back a bit, but the rhythm continues. Then both guitars come in, this time more melodically. It's a great, faster paced track, that only interrupts its steady beat for some cool drum tricks here and there. At 5 minutes, the steady beat gets broken down and things get a little atmospheric. It all builds again and then spends the last minute playing out a heavy climax.

'Xavii' goes for a nice, slower and smooth rhythm with a nice underlying organ and lovely cool down track. Some beautiful textures and sounds are explored with the guitars as this track continues on, sometimes becoming almost ambient, but then suddenly picking up a bit more power on the 2nd half. The Japanese release also included a 7th track 'Upper Ninety'. This track comes from an EP that was released a few years earlier, and you can hear the difference in the sound here as it sounds heavier and, to me, less focused. But, its still a good track and anytime you add something good to an already great album, it's a good thing.

All in all, I find this to be an excellent release from and excellent band. The fact that they were willing to explore a genre that was becoming too formulaic is a big plus, and, even though it doesn't have the same frantic and heavy feel of the debut album, I love the fact that it has a lot more variety. Yes, there are still heavy moments here, but it's not a constant onslaught, and I find myself returning to this album a lot more that the debut album, and have found that it has retained its hold on me even more than the debut album has. To me, this is a masterpiece of an album, and I have no problem rating it as such.

Russian Circles was one of the first post rock bands that I heard, and I noticed right away how their sound seemed to be on the dark and somewhat heavy side of the genre. This band has been around since 2004 and have built quite a reputation and fan base. They come out of Chicago, IL and have released nine full length albums since then, including their August 2019 released "Blood Year". The band has pretty much always operated as a trio, and such is the case in this album, with only the bass player being the only non-origianal member of the band. However, Brian has been with the band since before the release of their 2nd album in 2008, so many consider him as good as an original member. Mike Sullivan still provides his guitar work which utilizes loops to thicken the sound, and he has the knack to faithfully reproduce this sound in a live setting. Dave Turncrantz continues to provide his talent for anchoring the sound with drums, and as such, the music continues to please long-time fans.

"Hunter Moon" (2:20) slowly crescendos from the silence and moves along mournfully with jangly guitar and sustained bass. The track acts as a quiet introduction to the album. "Arluck" (6:33) immediately starts with a pounding drum pattern which pauses while the bass builds up steam. The drums start back in with their fast pattern and then the guitar comes in by putting down a bottom layer, then harmonizing over that layer. The bass takes over again and begins to use a chunky riff to build intensity. Mike then answers with more guitar patterns while the drums continue their pattern. There is more layer building with guitar harmonics, then everything except for the guitar stops. At this time, an atmospheric and sustained layer calls out above the jangly repeated note pattern. At 5 minutes, the band joins in again and as the track pushes forward, the intensity grows even more and then another heavier level of guitar plays over it all.

"Milano" (6:35) begins full bore with a heavy moderate beat and loud bass and guitar layers. Mike's guitar layers make it sound like a guitar orchestra, and the sound is heavy and thick, pretty much what you come to expect from the band. Even with the heaviness though, Mike has always had a talent to create passionate melodies and they seem to stand above the other layers of heaviness in the music. It's a great, solid track, but we've heard this from them before, and that is exactly what the fans are looking for. This is one of the main things that separate Russian Circles from the heavier post metal bands like Pelican, their ability to let the melodies be highlighted. "Kohokia" (7:18) starts out a bit quieter, with a hard, moderately slow beat, dark guitar and heavy bass. The darkness continues to boil along pushing the track forward and creating tension. The thickness of the music increases as more heavy layers are added and a wall of music gets built. At 4 minutes, another layer of guitar in a higher register is finally added to the heavy sound, and it chimes out with a Scandinavian style of melodic metal, just like someone playing on top of a forested mountain. You can see it in your mind's eye, can't you, as the camera pans over the top of the band as they create an avalanche of sound from the top of Mount Baldy or what have you. Nice, emotional, yet also expected.

"Ghost on High" (2:34) is a nice interlude made up of soft guitar layers and bass. It's actually quite lovely and is a nice reprieve from the previous heavy tracks, yet heavy chords threaten in the background towards the end of the track. "Sinaia" (7:30) flows from that previous track and a layer of sustained guitar chords keep the feeling floating along until more layers are built, and then the drums and bass start to ground everything. It's not too long before the thickness returns as the typical moderately slow rhythm pushes forward. Excitement is generated as there is a bit of an increase in tempo while the guitar continually gets heavier. There is a sudden break at around 4 minutes, then the wall of noise springs up again even more. It all becomes more and more monolithic and the heaviness factor is now heavier than ever until everything crashes to a climactic ending with nothing but pounding drums. "Quartered" (6:39) begins with a fast drums, guitar feedback and thumping bass. The feedback creates it's own layer in this case before the heavy guitar creates a new melodic pattern. Rolling drums and guitars push it forward to another heavy concoction of doomish style post rock.

This is one the fans will love, and if you love your music heavy and chunky, you will love it also as a new fan. It is a very enjoyable guitar fest of thick music, but there really is nothing new here. You can pretty much get any of their albums and know what kind of sound to expect from them. Heavy, solid post rock with some emphasis on melodic guitar layers that blend into a big wall of sound. The band is a step above most of the typical post rock sound, and is not afraid to make things loud for longer periods of time, not just satisfied to develop intensity, but to remain there and develop from that sound. However, there is a hesitancy for the band to move past their established sound or experiment with it much. That is the one thing that keeps the music from reaching the five star level of bands like "Mono" or "GY!BE". They can come close, but never seem to quite make it there. But they still remain a band that I will listen to, mostly because their sound is consistently great, even if that consistency keeps them from moving to a higher level.

Before I even start talking about this album I should start by saying that for me Empros is one of the best in the genre. And by "genre" I do not necessarily mean post metal (as in that case it would of course invite a lot of strong contenders), instead I mean something like "Sigur rós on acid", as I have no better way to put the level of madness that album represented for me. So, when I heard that after Memorial (which was more mediocre in quality and rather different in style) Russian circles is revisiting the formula they used when putting together that brilliant masterpiece five years ago, I shat bricks just from the sheer idea. Now, the album is here and I think I can say: they made it... Or, almost made it.

'Asa', first of all, is a fine ambient opener, fit for purpose, bringing back some of the dialled down moments of Station and Empros. Of course, in Russian circles' books it is still all about the metal, so when the table is set with 'Asa', the epic 'Vorel' already swoops in to kick it right over, which results in probably the best and most coherent piece of the album. The post-metal rollercoaster rolls right on with two blinders again, as 'Mota' and 'Afrika' show with full pride what the band is the best at: mixing loud and quite in such a way that your heart will pound like it never did since Empros. There are some beautiful, slow build-ups here peaking in brutal riffage and then falling back to earth again with some soothing tunes. Time for some chill at this point, as the again Empros-like tunes of 'Overboard' slowly give way to some more melancholy, just so that it can again be taken over by one of the most brutal pieces the band has ever done: 'Calla'. Although there are some strong riffs here also, the album at this point starts to pull back a bit, with the tendency then continuing on to the closing track 'Lisbon', which somehow cannot decide whether to be loud or quite, and eventually falls on the ground between two stools. And this is probably the only bad thing I can say about the album, plus the fact maybe that the full album length is not too impressive either (clocking in at just over 40 minutes).

Putting all this aside, this album is a solid effort. Why did I then use the word "almost" when introducing it? Well, partly because of how high the bar has been set with Empros, any maybe also because this Chicago-based trio has chosen a genre (instrumental post metal that is) that might wear out after a while unless they throw in some innovation between each album. And although they did so on Guidance, the striking similarity to Empros and Station might still invite some questions about whether it sounds recycled or not or whether this music wears out with a few listens or will keep hanging on to your playlist. Still, the end result is as wicked as Station, more mature than Memorial and playful like Empros but in the dramatic-acid-trips-way again, which is a good mixture. Overall not as strong as their previous album but is solid enough to mark another strong entry in their discography.

From the first minutes of this album I was convinced that this is a return to form for Russian Circles and I was not disappointed! Russian Circles have been a favorite of mine for quite some time. Even if the trio from Chicago haven't been able to deliver a perfect string of records, even their lesser moments are well worth experiencing.

I really liked the opening track Asa which is then perfectly complemented by Vorel. Unlike the intro on Memorial, which felt way too short and it's transition into Deficit felt abrupt, Asa takes it's time and delivers one of the band's best intros which can only be matched by the excellence of Campaign on Station. The transition into Vorel is seamless and the track that we are presented with is another marvelous piece of music that reminds me of Harper Lewis from, yet again, Station. Mota brings us a moment of sheer beauty as the track slowly unravels itself into another mix of melancholy and sheer power.

I'm really liking the fact that these compositions are slightly longer than most of material on Memorial, thus making the track flow feel more natural and the performances seem almost effortless. Africa is a perfect example of just that. The track commences slowly while feeling very structured in it's delivery as we are treated to a beautiful sounding landscape of musical harmony. The composition shifts into minor scale halfway thought the track and transitions in a completely different beast before returning to it's humble beginnings towards the end, what an excellent piece of music!

Just like Mota, Overboard works as another transitional piece that brings the record even more beauty as we slowly transition towards the final two tracks of Guidance. Calla is a heavy composition that introduces itself in the orderly fashion as we are treated to another pleasant landscape filled with electric guitar and hard hitting percussion work. Lisboa finishes the record off nicely with another slow and atmospheric piece which reminds me, yet again(!), of the ending to Station.

The question that I've pondered on, after giving Guidance a few spins, is whether the record is meant as a follow up to Station. The album does indeed feature quite a few callbacks to one of the finest records of 2008 but I wouldn't really say that the connection is entirely justified. The band have undergone quite a few different milestones during the last 8 years and thus have many different influences to draw it's inspiration from. There is definitely an ambition with Guidance to create another coherent record, which is something that Russian Circles have managed to do in the past with Empros and especially Station. Therefore the connection to Station is more in spirit than in execution. Either way, this is another excellent album from Russian Circles that should not be missed by fans of instrumental rock music!

***** star songs: Asa (4:00) Vorel (5:29) Afrika (6:31)

**** star songs: Mota (6:33) Overboard (5:32) Calla (6:23) Lisboa (6:32)

This is a tough album to review for me. I've been a fan of Russian Circles for quite some time now and even though I've had issues with some of the band's material in the past it was mostly minor complains in comparison to my reactions to Memorial.

After the release of the marvelous Empros, I was ectatic on hearing more from the direction that the band were heading for. Will they continue in their instrumental style or will they add vocals to some of their songs, just like they did on Praise Be Man? Will the band return to the more aggressive style that was heard on early albums, Enter and Station, or will we hear even more material resembling traditional post rock style? Will the new album be able to top the achievements of Empros?

Memorial starts with a short prelude as we are transition to the album's two longer pieces - Deficit and 1777 . The transition from Memoriam to Deficit feels very abrupt, which is quite unusual for a band that is known for fluent and transcendent instrumental pieces. Deficit is a heavy track that fits quite well with the album cover which depicts a harsh but beautiful landscape shot. Some sections of the track brings the band back to the early achievements on Station but I lack the overall coherence from the beginning to the end of the track. 1777 feels a lot more structured but it lacks the memorable punch that I require of my Russian Circle experience. The overall sound is a lot more dreamy and less catchy than what I've come to expect from the trio, still in no way a bad piece of music.

The rest of the album consists of tracks that are between 4-5 minutes long and, starting with Cheyenne, I immediately began to see the general problem with Memorial as an album. The record lacks the feel of consistency and most of the music featured on the second half of the album feels more like experimental ideas rather than full-fledged compositions. I've been trying to enjoy this record ever since it was released in 2013 and I've really been struggling with it. The material that is presented here isn't bad but I lack the distinct Russian Circles flavor that the band are usually able to bring to the table. Even the collaboration with Chelsea Wolfe on the album's title track feels out of place with the rest of the record and would have worked better as a stand alone single.

Even though this record has been somewhat of a disappointment for me, I'm still very interested in hearing what Russian Circles will deliver on their next record. Hopefully they'll take one step back in order to leap two steps forwards, hence return to the format that was featured on Empros and improve upon it.

**** star songs: Memoriam (1:28) Deficit (6:42) 1777 (7:21) Burial (4:43) Ethel (4:03) Lebaron (4:36)

*** star songs: Cheyenne (4:24) Memorial (3:45)

I tend to agree with the other reviews on this one. It's an okay album, but in it's attempt to garner new followers for the band, it seems to have lost the fire and heart that the previous two albums had. It starts off well enough with the first 2 tracks which have a lot of fire, especially the title track, and one tends to think Russian Circles have released another great post-rock album. The songs all sound good on the surface, but once all is said and done, it's hard to come up with anything here that is very memorable, groundbreaking or unique. Unfortunately, on this album, the band tries too hard to get a portion of the Mogwai followers, and instead ended up with an album full of a lot of surface music with no depth. The songs are mostly dark, but one track, "Hexed All" is extremely soft and pretty, but again, as nice as it is, it doesn't really leave anything behind. "Malko" even starts out with a nice beat that starts to build and up to a certain point, could have been a breakthrough single for the band, but it suddenly gets very dense. The longer tracks, namely "Mountain..." and "Philos" execute a great slow burn with a build up, but again, there is nothing new here. There is a lack of melody and feeling which is sad for what was shaping up to be an excellent band after two great albums. Again, it's not that it's bad, but it's not great either...only average and non essential. 3 stars.

This is the first full album (having released an E.P. previously with some of the same songs as this album on it) by the band Russian Circles. This is typically a band with only 3 members, but the sound is such a full sound for only 3 members. The style is somewhere between Post-rock and Post-metal in that most of the songs are heavy. The sound is somewhat similar to Pelican, only I think it is a little more accessible. It doesn't have the wall of sound style that is typical of Pelican, but is more inventive and less formulaic.

The musicianship is great and so is the production. There are some technical passages and some great hooks throughout. The sound is a little too similar, but there is more variation than what you would hear from other post rock or post metal bands like Yndi Halda or Pelican, probably leaning more towards the Mogwai sound, but consistently heavier. A few of the tracks are a little bit less heavy like "Micah" and "You Already Did", but even they have a degree of heaviness to them.

In my own personal opinion, I find the music on this first album quite enjoyable. I like the weightiness of the feel, a little dark with occasional bursts of light. I would have preferred a little more variety, but the songs do get better after repeated listenings and it is easier to pick out differences in the tracks than it is with Pelican's music.

In all, it's a good start for Russian Circles, who would become more adventurous as time goes on. Lovers of post rock and post metal should find plenty to love here and should listen to this band. They have toured with Pelican, Tool, and several other heavy well-known bands. Excellent addition to any prog rock collection. 4 stars.

3.5/5

2013 was a good year for post-rock, at least for me: Although relatively new to the genre (and its relations), Russian Circles was one of the first bands whose output I explored, and I was very happy (along with lots of other people) that the iconic post-rock outfit was releasing a new album.

Memorial does live up to the anticipation. These three guys can churn out wonderfully heavy, complex sounds, and this album does not disappoint. Most of the tracks are satisfyingly kick-ass, chord-driven, melodic, held together by great, intricate drumming. The heavy middle tracks are anchored on both ends by slower, almost acoustic tracks: "Memorial" at the beginning and "Memoriam" at the end, which revisits it but with wispy female vocals deep in the mix for an ethereal wind-up. I have to say it was a bonus to be able to see them produce these sounds live.

I tend to prefer the heavy end of post-rock to the ambient end, and although Russian Circles generally fits nicely there, I found Memorial to have a rather somber, more contemplative feel which makes it just a shade less compelling than I otherwise would have liked. The album manages to avoid the rather too-common sin of being a bit too long or including a track or two that may have been better left off, but the general dark feel drags it down.

'Memorial' , Russian Circle's, latest 2013, probably was named as such, because it will bring back the memory of the 80's Heavy Metal sound, the kind like Judas Priest or Def Leppard or any of those bands. That style became such a cliche, that it was almost impossible, to tell one band from the other. That for me, is quiet a downer. I never learned to appreciate, that limited and common ground of songwriting (I'm not talking about performances or instrumental skills), these Metal dudes offered.

In my taste, they were quiet boring and anonymous, even with the oversized fireworks, "solos" and screams. So to be thrown back, in a couple of this record's songs to that period is no big thrill for me!...

Good thing, this happens only in two songs, and its so blatant, that it seems all like a joke, or, an up-front repetition of their favorite "riffs" of that decade. But as mentioned, it is all saved for good, by the rest of the songs, that are by far, more original and more interesting in the Russian Circle's proper language, which, has to be mentioned, when they are good, they are really good, in all aspects of musical composition, performance and a sometimes forgotten, but developing, originality.

Now, if you dig those Metal years, this album will be an easy 4 PA stars. I, who dislike these "roots" or "tributes", will rate it ***3 PA stars , and "I will butcher these two songs off and have a very good, very listenable and enjoyable, 2013, Russian Circles album", .

IMPORTANT,-except for the last song, this is a vocal-less album.