With their sixth album Guidance, Russian Circles carry on in their quest to conjure multi dimensional dramatic instrumental narratives and to scout out new textures from their respective instruments. Songs arent constructed out of highbrow concepts; theyre forged out of gut instinct and base emotional response. Guidance continues the bands examination of the polarity of quiet and loud, complexity and simplicity, ugliness and beauty.
Every Russian Circles album has had its share of new sonic vistas, and Guidance finds the band still searching out new sounds while continuing to play to the collective strengths of guitarist Mike Sullivan, drummer Dave Turncrantz, and bassist Brian Cook.
Starting with the meditative restraint of album opener Asa, Guidance sets off
on a path of metallic savagery (Vorel, Calla), arpeggio tectonics (Mota),
mercurial anthems (Afrika), somber segues (Overboard), and seismic Americana
noir (Lisboa). With the help of engineer/co-producer Kurt Ballou and his God
City Studio, Russian Circles were able to capture this broad tonal palette and
wide array of emotional motifs into a cohesive journey through the tumultuous
corners of human existence. Life itself is a struggle with the unknown and a
search for meaning, and the creative process for Russian Circles has mirrored
that pursuit. The radical dynamic shifts and straightforward production of
Enter, the lockstep metallic attack and pensive comedowns of Station, the
symphonic grandeur of Geneva, the grit and grime of Empros, and the oscillation
between melancholy and wrath on Memorial
were all incremental steps towards an ideal, and Guidance brings the band that
much closer to that realization.