Gnosis is the highly anticipated 8th full length from Russian Circles.
Russian Circles are an American instrumental rock trio from Chicago, IL. Their sound consists of expansive guitar sounds created by guitarist Mike Sullivan's extensive looping and layering (a sound which he accurately reproduces at live shows), as well as heavily rhythmic drums and crushing basslines. They feature the cinematic soundscapes common to post-rock, but are not afraid to keep some sections heavy with a capital H, and have plenty of rhythm changes. They formed in 2005, and self-released an eponymous EP, followed shortly thereafter by their full-length debut, ''Enter''. Russian Circles provide a sonic adventure that should be enjoyable for any fan of the genre.
With their latest album Blood Year, Russian Circles forsake the sonic crossroads of divergent musical paths found on albums like Guidance and Memorial to offer up the most direct and forceful collection of songs in their discography. With guitarist Mike Sullivan, drummer Dave Turncrantz and bassist Brian Cook all residing in different states, Russian Circles have typically crafted their albums by piecing together song fragments and home recordings into meticulous texture-rich studio productions. But after seven tours in North American and five trips to Europe in support of 2016’s Guidance, the band made a conscious effort to approach the songs on Blood Year with the same organic feel of a live show. In an age where rock records are often built on a computerized grid, Russian Circles chose to track the foundations of the songs together in one room as complete takes without click tracks. While it retains the dexterity, multi-faceted techniques, and dramatic compositions that have been a trademark of Russian Circles since day one, Blood Year fully embraces the most forceful aspects of the band’s repertoire. The Album was expertly captured by Kurt Ballou at Electrical Audio in Chicago, the world-famous recording studio where they’d tracked Enter, Geneva, and Memorial.
This album is the very first live album by Russian Circles and it was recorded at dunk!festival 2016 where they headlined that edition. We knew what these guys from Chicago were capable of so we expected a lot of their show but we didn't knew it was going to be perfect.
Russian Circles recorded their seventh studio album with producer/engineer Kurt Ballou (of Converge) at Chicago's Electrical Audio and God City studios, where many of their previous records were made. While the group has usually assembled their albums piece by piece, using click tracks to lay down individual parts, this time they decided to record much of the album as complete, full-band takes in order to capture the ferocity of their live shows. Russian Circles have long since mastered a balance of precision and spontaneity that has practically become their calling card, but Blood Year is still one of their most unmistakably raw releases.
Glazunov’s beautifully scored incidental music for Lermontov’s play Masquerade has only survived in manuscript. With characteristic genius, he illustrates both the glittering atmosphere and dances of splendid St Petersburg balls and depicts the horrifying descent into madness of the play’s protagonist, Evgeny Arbenin, who jealously poisons his innocent wife. The shorter works on this disc likewise show Glazunov’s amazing command of orchestral resources, whether evoking an exotic oriental vision, the vivacious spirit of Hungarian music, in the Pas de caractère, or painting a mood of gentle romantic lyricism.