Album: Guidance
Year: 2016
Rating: 64/100
Chicago based instrumentalists Russian Circles, for the uninitiated, specialise in lengthy, complex and sprawling post-metal soundscapes. Bear with me when I say this, but their musical cues are more Pelican than Explosions in the Sky; an almost thunderous wall of sound, punctuated by crisp, taut bass guitar parts and powerful drumming balancing with guitarist Mike Sullivan's expertly crafted riffs, and the result is three excellent musicians who are hugely passionate about what they do playing off one another. So how does their newest effort, "Guidance", stack up?
On the whole, it's the feeling of three otherwise great musicians who are seemingly treading water a little. Don't get me wrong; there's little to criticise Russian Circles' craft as an entity, and I'm sure that these songs will translate nicely to the live arena given how well the trio melds together as a unit, it's just that...there's very little on offer in the way of anything memorable here. Where tracks such as "Vorel" and "Calla" happily rumble along courtesy of the production values of Converge maestro Kurt Ballou and his wide, loud and heavy approach to audio design, tracks such as "Asa" and "Overboard" feel somewhat aimless, and in a rare miss for Ballou, even the production doesn't get to save it.
"Guidance" is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination. But it is sorely lacking in the emotional depth and power that made their previous albums such an engaging listen, which is a shame when you consider what they're truly capable of when they perform at their best.
Track listing:
- Asa
- Vorel
- Mota
- Afrika
- Overboard
- Calla
- Lisboa
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