Showing posts with label Russian Circles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russian Circles. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2015
Song of the Day-Cavern-"Outsiders"
"Outsiders" is taken off the new release from Cavern out tomorrow on Grimoire Records. This is the band's third release and their first all-instrumental effort. The album is sure to please fans of Russian Circles, Baroness and Mastodon. For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Album Of The Day-Russian Circles-"Station" (2008)
The Album Of The Day is "Station" by Russian Circles.
Review:
For those who celebrated the intricate heaviness of Russian Circles' debut album, Enter, or better yet saw them devastate live audiences with the sheer metallic roar of it all, Station may seem a little underwhelming — at first. Brian Cook of Botch/These Arms Are Snakes has replaced bassist Colin DeKuiper (on record at least). That said, one should expect a wall of sonic attack that would make the gods cower, right? Not exactly. Texture and dimension have become a big part of Russian Circles sound on this seven- track album. They've tried to get themselves out of the post-rock "build up and up and up and finally explode" equation that has actually hampered the growth of the music. They haven't left metal behind, but have tempered it somewhat with some softer sounds, a more gradual expansion, and layered textures on any given theme, or some set thereof. About half the album relies on this technique, and admittedly, it can be a bit frustrating on first listen because there are so many parts folded into one another it simply isn't as obvious as Enter was. Mike Sullivan's guitar playing relies as much on fingerpicked swells that shimmer and refract as it does power chugging riffs. Dave Turncrantz's drums won't announce the shifts and twists and turns, either. He jumps in with the rest of the band, playing to the sense of drama and tension that get spread beautifully over the dimensions of space and power, framed perfectly by producer-engineer Matt Bayles. "Harper Lewis" takes the ominous heaviness that Russian Circles are known for, pours paranoid ambient sonics around the drum kit, and allows Cook to let that low end bass just throb wide open, until Sullivan just crushes the entire thing with his wall of squall stun riffing. It takes a little while to develop, but the payload is big. This is also true to a greater degree on the title track. Back and forth guitar and bass thrumming becomes a push and pull between the two players until only the thudding drum fills can breach the gap. It becomes almost unbearably tense even as the tonal and time signatures shift. The same kind of metal effect takes place in "Youngblood." Think of the menacing guitar intros of vintage Iron Maiden or Judas Priest paired with the sense of distortion, detuned feedback, and the noir transcendence of Isis or Pelican. The softer tunes, such as "Verses" and "Xavi," are really compelling puzzle pieces loaded with tricky corners, intricate spaces, and floating guitar and bass parts that open the door of power rock infinity but stop at the threshold. The bottom line is that this diversity is not a lack of focus, but growth and development that make the band stand out from the pack, making the effort to spin this a few times yield very big rewards. (Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)
Track Listing:
01. "Campaign" – 6:40
02. "Harper Lewis" – 7:15
03. "Station" – 8:43
04. "Verses" – 8:43
05. "Youngblood" – 7:34
06. "Xavii" – 4:29
Listen
MySpace
Official Website
Review:
For those who celebrated the intricate heaviness of Russian Circles' debut album, Enter, or better yet saw them devastate live audiences with the sheer metallic roar of it all, Station may seem a little underwhelming — at first. Brian Cook of Botch/These Arms Are Snakes has replaced bassist Colin DeKuiper (on record at least). That said, one should expect a wall of sonic attack that would make the gods cower, right? Not exactly. Texture and dimension have become a big part of Russian Circles sound on this seven- track album. They've tried to get themselves out of the post-rock "build up and up and up and finally explode" equation that has actually hampered the growth of the music. They haven't left metal behind, but have tempered it somewhat with some softer sounds, a more gradual expansion, and layered textures on any given theme, or some set thereof. About half the album relies on this technique, and admittedly, it can be a bit frustrating on first listen because there are so many parts folded into one another it simply isn't as obvious as Enter was. Mike Sullivan's guitar playing relies as much on fingerpicked swells that shimmer and refract as it does power chugging riffs. Dave Turncrantz's drums won't announce the shifts and twists and turns, either. He jumps in with the rest of the band, playing to the sense of drama and tension that get spread beautifully over the dimensions of space and power, framed perfectly by producer-engineer Matt Bayles. "Harper Lewis" takes the ominous heaviness that Russian Circles are known for, pours paranoid ambient sonics around the drum kit, and allows Cook to let that low end bass just throb wide open, until Sullivan just crushes the entire thing with his wall of squall stun riffing. It takes a little while to develop, but the payload is big. This is also true to a greater degree on the title track. Back and forth guitar and bass thrumming becomes a push and pull between the two players until only the thudding drum fills can breach the gap. It becomes almost unbearably tense even as the tonal and time signatures shift. The same kind of metal effect takes place in "Youngblood." Think of the menacing guitar intros of vintage Iron Maiden or Judas Priest paired with the sense of distortion, detuned feedback, and the noir transcendence of Isis or Pelican. The softer tunes, such as "Verses" and "Xavi," are really compelling puzzle pieces loaded with tricky corners, intricate spaces, and floating guitar and bass parts that open the door of power rock infinity but stop at the threshold. The bottom line is that this diversity is not a lack of focus, but growth and development that make the band stand out from the pack, making the effort to spin this a few times yield very big rewards. (Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)
Track Listing:
01. "Campaign" – 6:40
02. "Harper Lewis" – 7:15
03. "Station" – 8:43
04. "Verses" – 8:43
05. "Youngblood" – 7:34
06. "Xavii" – 4:29
Listen
MySpace
Official Website
Monday, June 23, 2008
New Band To Burn One To-Stone Cold Boys (Stoner/Psychedelic)
From Moscow, Russia:
"Stone Cold Boys ― a young stoner/psychedelic/southern/whatever band ―
were born after the participants of another heavy team, Stoner
Deffect, broke up. Mr.Tazz (bass), who was the stoner ideologist in
SD, and Mr.Big D (drums) continued jamming occasionally though, hoping
to find new musicians to create a band based on Kyuss legacy. After
short period of time they were joined by Mr. LBAE (vocals) and, in
early October 2007, Mr.Vanish (guitar) and it was clear that they made
a perfect match. As soon as the name appeared, the Boys started to
work on various material. As all of them were, besides stoner bands,
influenced by different music (from 60-s and 70-s classics like Black
Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and old blues to Soundgarden, Mr.Bungle, early
90-s hardcore teams and other) the songs they were producing differed
from each other a lot, but they all had the same roots. In December
2007 they were also joined by Maul, who became their manager soon.
After a period of strange events like flood at one studio and power
collapse at the other, Stone Cold Boys managed to record a short demo."
MySpace
Download Demo (MP3, 256 kbps, 47 mb)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Russian Circles, Daughters Tour Dates
Dates have been announced for Russian Circles' upcoming U.S. tour with Daughters.
Tour Dates:
6/3 Iowa City, IA @ Picador
6/4 St Louis, MO @ Bluebird Theater
6/5 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
6/6 Denver, CO @ Marquis
6/7 Salt Lake City, UT @ Burt's Tiki Lounge
6/8 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
6/9 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
6/10 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
6/11 Chico, CA @ Cafe Coda
6/12 San Francisco, CA @ Slims
6/14 Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
6/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
6/16 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
6/18 Phoenix, AZ @ The Clubhouse
6/20 Austin, TX @ Red 7
6/21 Ft Worth, TX @ Lolas
6/22 Houston, TX @ Rudyards
6/23 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
6/24 Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
6/25 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
6/26 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
6/27 Wilmington, DE @ Harmony Grange
6/28 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
6/29 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
6/30 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
7/1 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Tour Dates:
6/3 Iowa City, IA @ Picador
6/4 St Louis, MO @ Bluebird Theater
6/5 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
6/6 Denver, CO @ Marquis
6/7 Salt Lake City, UT @ Burt's Tiki Lounge
6/8 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
6/9 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
6/10 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
6/11 Chico, CA @ Cafe Coda
6/12 San Francisco, CA @ Slims
6/14 Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
6/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
6/16 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
6/18 Phoenix, AZ @ The Clubhouse
6/20 Austin, TX @ Red 7
6/21 Ft Worth, TX @ Lolas
6/22 Houston, TX @ Rudyards
6/23 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
6/24 Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
6/25 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
6/26 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
6/27 Wilmington, DE @ Harmony Grange
6/28 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
6/29 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
6/30 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
7/1 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
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