Russian Circles - Gnosis (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Gnosis is the highly anticipated 8th full length from Russian Circles.

Across the span of their previous seven studio albums, Chicago-based instrumental trio Russian Circles traversed a diverse topography of sounds, moods, and approaches with their limited armory of drums, bass, and guitar. It’s difficult to chart an evolution in their sound when their records have always felt like well-curated playlists. It wasn’t uncommon to hear drone-heavy meditations, dazzling prog exercises, knuckle-dragging riff-fests, haunting folk ballads, and tension-baiting noise rock all within the span of one album. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the progression from the pensive and intricate melodies of Enter (2006) to the layered distorted dirges of Blood Year (2019). It’s been a gradual sonic shift owing to the band’s rigorous tour schedule and a predilection towards playing their more authoritative material on stage. But with their latest album, Gnosis, Russian Circles eschew the varied terrain of their past work and bulldoze a path through the most tumultuous and harrowing territory of their sound.

As was the case for so many artists in the age of Covid, the obstacles of geography and isolation forced Russian Circles to reevaluate their writing process. Rather than crafting songs out of fragmented ideas in the practice room, full songs were written and recorded independently before being shared with other members, so that their initial vision was retained. While these demos spanned the full breadth of the band’s varied styles, the more cinematic compositions were ultimately excised in favor of the physically cathartic pieces.

Gnosis was engineered and mixed by Kurt Ballou. Drums and bass were tracked at Electrical Audio in Chicago to maximize the natural room sounds of the rhythm section. Guitar and synth overdubs were conducted at God City in Salem, MA to take advantage of Ballou’s vast inventory of amps and effects pedals. Despite the entirety of the album being written remotely, the songs were recorded with the full band playing together to retain the live feel of the material. Owing to the climate of the times and a new writing method, Russian Circles created their most fuming and focused work to date—an album that favors the exorcism of two years’ worth of tension over the melancholy and restraint that often colored their past endeavors.

AllMusic Review by Paul Simpson
For their eighth album, the individual members of post-metal trio Russian Circles decided to write songs independently before sharing them with the rest of the group, instead of the band's usual process of composing together in the practice room. While this allows a bit of variation, the tracks that made the final cut are largely more intense, visceral pieces, and Gnosis plays as a deliberately paced narrative rather than a fragmented patchwork. "Tupilak" starts the record off with arpeggiated guitar riffs and thundering drums, building to a galloping pace and a swarming flood of metal riffage, then reaching a bridge that alternates between restrained picking and forceful crushing. "Conduit" is a more compact, almost radio-ready set of meaty riffs and anxious drumming. The brief, faintly glimmering "Ó Braonáin" is similar to the ambient interludes on the band's previous album, Blood Year, and "Gnosis" begins with a quiet glow before it starts its brooding ascent, waiting until the final few minutes before unleashing its torrential distortion. "Vlastimil" is the album's most apocalyptic song, crashing doom metal riffs against furious blastbeats. "Betrayal" is even more bracing, launching as a frantic spree before shifting through phases of various intensities. Closing track "Bloom" lets a lot more light into the landscape, stepping away from darker impulses and concentrating on hope. Russian Circles' aesthetic is so distinctive that they aren't going to deviate from it too much even if they attempt a different compositional technique, and Gnosis ends up being another skillfully executed, enjoyable variation on their signature sound.

Tracklist:
1. Tupilak (06:34)
2. Conduit (04:31)
3. Gnosis (07:48)
4. Vlastimil (06:44)
5. Ó Braonáin (01:45)
6. Betrayal (05:20)
7. Bloom (06:57)


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