Decent bands often include only one or two good songs on an album. When B-sides end up being the bulk of a full-length album and the two best songs are placed far apart, the listener is left skipping through the junk.
Russian Circles managed to dodge all of these pitfalls on their new album "Enter." This strong and short post-rock instrumental extravaganza refuses any sort of standstill. "Enter" is more volatile than its genre's standards, originally set by bands such as Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Instead of long, lucid drifting punctuated by sudden bursts of clamoring notes, Russian Circles is consistently a clamorous succession of explosions.
The songs frequently and violently change. They begin and end abruptly. After a minute of heavy rock, the music begins to calm down only to pick up again within seconds.
While it doesn't offer the same qualities as other post-rock bands, Russian Circles rises above the cathartic qualities of its predecessors. You wouldn't put this music on and chill out like Explosions in the Sky because the beat comes at a faster pace.
"Enter" also is strangely new. It sounds almost wrong, in fact. Notes are not played off-key, but in a way that sounds backwards, adding to the overall discord.
On par with many post-rock bands, there are no lyrics. Russian Circles is purely instrumental.
The six songs of "Enter" build up and fall silent, each track swinging in and out of incoherent noise. The album is a good addition to any post-rock music library.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
