Login for FavoritesRussian Circles - Station
Tweet
Album Details
- Artist: Russian Circles
- Album: Station
- Label: Suicide Squeeze
- Year of Release: 2008
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: dscanland on 2008-05-02
RecommendI know we've got a lot of post-rock fans on Music Emissions so to those fans I bring you Russian Circles. So far Station is the best post-rock album of the year, easy. I know post-rock is almost abused more than the "emo" genre but one listen to Station and you'll agree that the shoe fits. This Chicago-based trio has achieved a great sophomore album that should extend it's fan-base tremendously. While some of the songs border on metal, like "Youngblood", they still keep a handle on listenability. In typical post-rock fashion Russian Circles keeps to an average of 7 minutes per track and only gives us 6 songs to chew on. It's plenty to sink your teeth into. Isis and Pelican fans should even find common ground on Station. The production is impeccable with everything seemingly in the right places. The lengthier songs reaching over 7 minutes, tend to be the better material. While most songs have a moody overtone to them they still stir up emotions that are deep within. Take the last track, "Xavii", it's mellow and quiet but still appeals to the same crowd as the heftier tracks.
The band is able to go throughout the entire album sans vocals and still delivery an amazing album. As I said, Russian Circles have created this years first great post-rock album.
User Reviews and Comments
Log In or Register to Rate Albums
User Rating:
Write your own review
Tell us why this album is great or sucks ass, or correct the reviewer. If you write enough quality reviews you may find yourself on the editorial staff.
Reviews have to be over 100 words, shorter ones are classed as comments.
Tell us why this album is great or sucks ass, or correct the reviewer. If you write enough quality reviews you may find yourself on the editorial staff.
Reviews have to be over 100 words, shorter ones are classed as comments.
Log In or Register to Rate Albumson 2008-06-07 SolitaryMan Said:
I had to hear it after reading this review, and it's a great album. Not the first great post-rock album of the year (A Silver Mt. Zion's "Thirteen Blues for Thirteen Moons", Kayo Dot's "Blue Lambency Downward") but it's definitely up there with them. I like how it's not as taxing a listen as most post rock tends to be, it's more concise without losing much in the way of punch or emotion.
Not Rated
Review:
on 2008-05-13 Trismus Said:
Making the decision to exclude vocals from your music is adding an additional hurdle for you to overcome in any genre.
Doing so in Metal is practically begging to reside in musics underground for eternity. Its hard enough for Metal bands to get any kind of exposure. Now tell promoters that youre a Metal band minus the typical screaming or growling and, well, your uphill battle just became Herculian. Youve really got to shine instrumentally or you havent a prayer.
One of these excelling instru-metal bands is Chicagos own Russian Circles. Their first release Enter snatched a quick and brawny following, granting their latest release Station the double-edged gift of high expectations. With high expectations comes the inevitable hope of what the long awaited product will finally offer and, depending on what you were expecting, Station may or may not deliver.
I think in order to be an exclusively instrumental band, youve got to continually evolve your sound. If you dont noticeably grow and improve then youre never offering something new and the novelty of your music begins to wear off. I believe this happened with Russian Circles Station.
This album is so eerily similar to the previous release that Id swear it was recorded at the same time. With both albums checking in at a modest forty-four minutes long, you could have almost released them together as one full length and given the world the most epic hour and a half its ever seen. The tones are the same, the overall tempo and style is identical, basically the tracks all sound like youre playing Enter backwards.
Now, obviously, the two albums werent recorded at the same time. And if all you wanted was more of the same (perhaps because Enter was shorter than you would have liked) than youre probably reading this and wondering what the problem is. But as I stated earlier, if youre going to pursue this highly specialized form of metal, than youve got to progress. And with as much as I played Enter, Station doesnt blow me away like I hoped it would.
All of this said, Russian Circles are still an amazing band and I would still recommend Station to anyone who hasnt heard this incredibly talented three piece before. Hopefully someday they will take a queue from their compatriots Pelican, however, and start playing outside their own backyard.
Not Rated
