Last Night: Russian Circles at Slim's

Russian Circles
Slim's
June 12, 2008
Review by Kirsty Evans

Who knew that you could go see a band without vocals and not miss them at all?

That’s the feeling that a lot of people had walking away from the Russian Circles show at Slim’s last night. Initially I was, I will admit, a little skeptical – a metal band with no singer? Wouldn’t that sound a little empty? Rather lacking in the bombast and atmosphere that’s what a lot of people love about metal in the first place?

Well, I was wrong. Russian Circles blew away the crowd with a sound that was rich, full and surprisingly layered. I’m not quite sure what kind of technical wizardry they were using to create that sound (I did notice the bass player constantly fiddling with some effects pedals at his feet), but whatever it was, it worked.

I must admit that after opener Daughters I wasn’t expecting much. OK, to be fair I’m not a fan of math metal in general, so it may well be that as math metal bands go they’re just great, but…meh. Their performance left me cold and a little irritated. You know those techno songs where it sounds like there are a series of random, unconnected sounds competing for attention? Imagine a metal version of that, except with a singer who at times sounds like a junior Glen Danzig. Not my cup of tea. The only source of amusement for me was that their show proved what I like to call the Murphy’s Law of nudity – the people most likely to disrobe in public are always the ones you’d least like to see in a state of undress. I could have lived the rest of my life quite happily without seeing Daughters’ singer attempting to climb a pole clad only in his briefs. The crowd seemed to like them, though.

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The moment Russian Circles hit the stage any lingering sense of vexation disappeared. Now that is how you do heavy. Their sound is hard to put across in words. Imagine Vikings striding manfully across the landscape during the faster songs – and really, who doesn’t like a bit of Viking rock sometimes? It was during the slower songs that they truly distinguished themselves, though. In a landscape filled with super-raw and aggressive metalcore and nu-metal whining it’s easy to forget just how pretty metal bands can sound when they really want to. Yep, I called a metal band pretty. I know it’s not the standard description, but trust me, pick up a copy of Station or Enter and you’ll see what I mean. There are moments where Russian Circles’ sound is, quite simply, gorgeous, swooping and orchestral and deeply atmospheric. It sounds pretty on record, but live it reaches a whole other level of stunning.

That’s an important point to note – there are some bands that are just better live, and Russian Circles is one of them. Not that their records aren’t good, it’s just that they have that certain something that makes some bands’ live performances truly special. Watching the crowd was almost as much fun as watching the band – everyone was so mellow that I found myself wondering if I was really at a metal show. For once Slim’s didn’t really need the “No stagediving, no moshing” sign – the audience was far too busy tripping out on the music to do any of that.

It’s easy for instrumental bands to come across as cold and a little pretentious, especially bands as technically skilled as this one. In all seriousness, Russian Circles have the best drummer I’ve heard in a long time. How often do you find yourself at a show being blown away by the drummer? It would be very easy for them to slip into show-off mode, emphasizing technical virtuosity over music, but Russian Circles rarely fall prey to that temptation. They write actual songs, and arrange them both live and in the studio in such a way that they flow seamlessly into each other. It takes a lot of skill to make music sound this effortless, and these guys pull it off over and over again.

As skeptical as I was going in, I’m now officially declaring myself a convert. Instrumental metal doesn’t have to be wanky and pretentious. Done right, it is a thing of beauty. Next time Russian Circles come to town you can guarantee that I’ll be there, and I highly recommend that anyone else with a taste for metal do the same.