![\"russian_circles\"](\"http:\/\/www.musoscribe.com\/images\/russian_circles.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“Uh-oh.”<\/p>\n
That was this reviewer’s audible response a few seconds after dropping the needle (so to speak) on Russian Circles’ debut disc. And by a minute or so into “Carpe,” the dread was still at hand: would some screamo\/emo\/metal singer soon kick in with his tales of angst and woe?<\/p>\n
After two minutes, a curious thing happened. Melodies emerged from the slow-building track. And the voices were thankfully, mercifully absent. Aha! Enter<\/i> is an instrumental album; Russian Circles an instrumental trio! (Note that at the time I received this disc, the magazine for which I reviewed it assigned CD reviews at random; if I so choose, I can often listen to an album “cold,” with no prior knowledge\/expectations of the music therein. This adds to the adventure).<\/p>\n
Imagine a group influenced by Godspeed You Black Emperor! and King Crimson. Now, add an affinity (and healthy respect) for melody. Then take away a large helping of pretense. And strip away the odd-for-odd’s-sake tricky time signatures. What you’re left with is a pretty good approximation of Russian Circles.<\/p>\n
Four of the six songs run about eight minutes or more; the other two aren’t pop ditties either. And while Enter<\/i> makes little attempt at lofty concepts (it is instrumental<\/i>, after all), the tracks tumble into one another in a way that makes them effective as a whole. The songs all make deft use of dynamics without falling into the art-rock clich\u00e9s of loud\/soft, fast\/slow, etc. Each track is cerebral, delicate and muscular all at once. Not exactly dinner music, Enter<\/i> is as tuneful as power-trio-based post-rock is likely to get. Recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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