PROSPEKT

This may well be Circle's most motorik album to date. Once these guys play a groove they'll commit to it until they die! and that's a good thing (if you can tolerate minimalism). These Finns have mastered the art of hypnotism (or trance rock, if you will). As the songs progresses and you focus more on the music and the notes being played you'll slowly begin to loose the concept of time and certainly loose yourself. That's the beauty of minimalism and that's what it does to you just like the early works of Reich or Glass, but now Circle takes the same principles and ideas and put them under a (kraut)rock formula.

This isn't something new from these guys, they've been doing this for years now, but in this album they do it in a simpler and rawer way. There are very little effects in this album for you to "trip out" compared to other releases from them and quite honestly there's no need to. The instrumentation here is like no other Circle album; two drummers, two guitarists, two keyboardist and one bass player. In this album we also see them in a heavy mood (but not in a metal way like in their NWOFHM albums). Their sound in this album is very pompous as well and more prog than the previous "Andexelt". Just take the opener "Dedofiktion" for example which starts out from the get go with pounding drums bass like if you where thrown in the middle of the song or so since there's no "intro". Right from the get go you're treated with high dose of Circle's hypnomania. The songs do vary from one another, and there's quite some variation within the song as well, but the beat never (or rarely) changes whitin the song so you'll be nodding your head back and forth through the whole 50 minutes of the album. As you may have noticed by now the drummer and bassist Jussi are the stars in this album by being the backbone in Circle's sound and creating such wonderful and engaging rhythm lines.

This album can be a hit or miss depending on whether you can tolerate repetition or not. If you do then you're in it for a treat, but if you don't then don't worry, there are other Circle albums for you to enjoy. This was my first experience with the band and although it isn't as varied as one would expect variation isn't really a problem in this album (since that isn't really the idea here either).

This is the album I would recommend for Art Rock fans, Zeuhl fans for its strong rhythm section and for fans of the motorik krautrock.

CIRCLE have such a large discography and they've changed styles many times over the years, so for me it's been about finding that period in their history that clicks with me the most. Found it ! This 2000 release and the later 2003 release called "Guillatine" hit the spot for me. Man when these guys are "on" they are incredible to say the least.

"Dedofiktion" has this repetitive beat as the guitar is picked over top. Great sound ! Violin after 1 1/2 minutes then the guitar changes to riffs as the tempo picks up after 3 minutes. Vocals 4 minutes. Insanity ! It settles back 7 1/2 minutes in to end it. "Gericht" sounds so good. Just a great sounding beat with what sounds like a cow bell of some sort helping out. The guitar starts to rip it up before 3 1/2 minutes. It settles down 6 1/2 minutes to the end. "Stimulance" has an intense rhythm and sound throughout.

"Varhain" is good too. I like the way the keys play over the heavy drums. It kicks in fuller and more intense after 3 minutes then the guitar sets the soundscape on fire. "Aarre" has this repetitive groove throughout. Organ before 2 minutes but it's brief. It's back though again at 5 minutes. Spoken words come in during the final minute. "Eripwre" also has a catchy rhythm. It's heavier 5 1/2 minutes in and vocals follow.

I have the most recent re- issue with an almost 18 minute bonus track that does the band proud. There's a different album cover on mine too.