Albums

Album Review: Russian Circles

[Album: Station]
[Label: Suicide Squeeze]

When Russian Circles debuted with ‘Enter’ there weren’t all that many who picked up on it’s gloriously rich tapestry of post-rock. They never were a band who felt the need for a vocal, relying heavily on a clever layering of guitar sounds to do the talking. Two years down the line it’s no different as the Chicago trio have their, notoriously difficult, second album for us to underestimate.

Opening track ‘Campaign’ revisits the same guitar riff that introduced us to their debut album and the incredible 9-minute stunner, ‘Carpe’. This however is much more of an unsettling wash of cymbals and keyboard wall-of-sound before it breaks off into a steady, upbeat thread of tinkling keys over a falling guitar pattern. It’s emotive and heady and serves as a perfect introduction to the might of tribal drumming and the dirty bass of ‘Harper Lewis’. There’s a sequence of rimshots that tingle remorselessly as if the sticks were actually hitting your spine, the rhythm guitars thicken as if suddenly being played from the next room, then break away into a cunning clean pattern of delightful picking. It’s joyous, maddeningly classy and completely fulfilling.

The title-track, ‘Station’, unleashes a groove that Russian Circles have always threatened and never delivered, almost as if it was beneath them. But there is no escaping it now it’s out and, to be honest, nothing I write in this review will do it justice - yes, it’s that good. They’ve taken the throbbing doom metal of The Sword and chucked it headfirst into the dirty, Southern sludge of Down. This is a monster, it’s bloody ravenous, and it’s coming to eat you! Sweeping you up in it’s dirty, great fist it shakes you repeatedly with insistent driving beats and ear-melting riffery. This ultimate headbanger inevitably has a softer side too with sharpened string work plucking moments of menacing quiet from the storm.

The tentative beauty of ‘Verses’ ends up leaving you a little washed-out by comparison and might have been served better as an album closer. It runs a little long at nine minutes ending in a steady volcanic rumbling. Thankfully the hammering feist of ‘Youngblood’ is there to provide a slap around the face with pistoning guitars, balls-out drums and an underlying, big bass grunt. The album ends on ‘Xavii’, at a mere four minutes, and is split between an opening twinkling guitar steadying the ship before a sequence of pounding heartbeat-like blows brings the album to a close.

Russian Circles have stepped up the pace from their debut and added both subtlety and discipline to their armoury. Combine this with their usual multitude of time signature changes and it’s easy to find yourself wallowing in joy, sadness, comfort, bliss or any other number of intense emotions that the music inspires at every turn. It’s another stunning effort and the band deserve every shred of praise for which they will inevitably receive.

For fans of: Red Sparowes, Isis, Pelican
Band links = Russian Circles

Cover Photo by Ryan Russell

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Tags: album, cd, Russian Circles, station, review

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