Enter

I own two RC albums so far and I am very pleased with both. I honestly couldn't choose between "Enter"or "Empros". Both are fantastic to listen to while day dreaming with your ear buds in. A lot of creativeness in this album. Its dark and heavy but at the same time it is much different then Metal. It's worth checking out in my opinion, even if you prefer music with vocals.

This review must be at least 20 words long. I hate long winded reviews. Any way you know why you came here to buy it. Its not cuz you heard it in a club or on the radio thats for sure. Its because its just awesome and you appreciate good music unlike most people these days.

Like all other Russian Circles albums,..pure brilliance

Russian Circles formed in Chicago, taking their name from a hockey drill, to become one of the foremost groups in post-metal, whatever that term means, by existing within the overlap between post-metal, post-rock, and even a bit of math rock. Not content merely to walk in the shadow of forebears like ISIS and Pelican, they began with 2006’s Enter to carve a distinctive path by blending these sounds to varying degrees, and listening back to their debut album, it is fascinating to hear how much more brave their sound became. 2006’s Enter was by no means a conventional rock album, but neither was it as structurally experimental as their music would later become. To the degree that the group developed a signature sound and signature style, it came from finding ways to take a line, a riff, a chord, and explore it fully, while slowly building, or slowly shifting tempo, or slowly finding movement in a way that was not exactly the radical, sudden turn of math rock, but nor was it the textural exploration of much of post-metal. Hence, an intersection of math rock, post-rock and post-metal. Yet that requires courage, in the way that it requires courage for a poet to publish something shorter than even a haiku and call it a poem. That doesn’t mean one must distribute a “recording” of silence, like John Cage, but there is a process of finding out what you can do, of stripping away and asking, what more can be removed? On Enter, the group retains enough melodicism that many rock fans could listen and think, for some period of time, that it is just kind of cool, riff-heavy music. They might either be fooled, or perhaps better yet, eased into a subgenre that might be difficult. That’s not to say the group is anywhere near prog, but one hears the history of hard rock being filtered through ISIS as the group asks, can we do this? Do we need more? Can we get away with less? Such is the challenge of minimalism, but one does not start with a complete understanding of the barest essentials. Rather, one starts by peeling away that which can be peeled away, and on Enter, one hears Russian Circles peeling away, leaving enough for the devoted hard rock fan to have points of, well, entry. Invitations. From here, the group would continue to evolve and ask how to build a piece around slow changes in tempo, along with other ideas, but here? A hard rock fan could almost find a real point of entry to post-metal, and perhaps a more inviting one than Pelican. Certainly more accessible than ISIS or Neurosis, for the mainstream rock audience.

There is nothing really to explain here to you if you are questioning the talent and beauty of this band... Just read the other reviews. It's relaxation in music form IMO. Just listen to You Already Did at around the 4:53 mark.... Brilliance.

A tad monotone at times, but it worked.

Arrived on time, undamaged. Very happy with this purchase.

RUSSIAN CIRCLES - Enter - Chicago seems to be a sort of hot bed for instrumental acts now-a-days... Hearing all the hype about this album I felt I should proceed with caution, thinking it may be just be a winded version of Pelican or their kin. Truth is, `Enter' is a debut worth shouting about and will likely make it in the top 10 of 2006. Russian Circles sound is much less pretentious then many of the other instrumental bands... with songs never getting tedious or tiring. The opener `Carpe' is subtle opener which really sets the stage for the album. Unlike many other bands their opening track does not eclipse the rest of the album and does not set the bar too high for the following songs. Using the term very loosely it is likely one of the weaker tracks. The second song `Micah' is a real piece of art, sounding like the love child of Lateralus-era Tool and the Red Sparowes. `Death Rides a Horse' is a furious power shot of spastic guitar rhythms, driving bass and definitive drum sections. It is likely the darkest and heaviest song on the album, yet does not sacrifice melody. The title track, `Enter' is an interesting blend of rock-fusion and sparse dissonance. Again the rhythm section is incredibly tight and really helps drive this song forward. Track five, `You Already Did' is a breathtaking amalgamation of various styles. This song has an underlying melody which is one of the most beautiful things that has graced my ears in quite sometime... at the 5:00 minute mark the song unfolds into delicate aural transcendence. The final track, `New Macabre' is a spiral of musical emotions, dabbing in the darker realms and shifting back to the driving melody. `Enter' may take the place from Pelican's `The Fire in our Throats will Beckon the Thaw' or Red Sparowes' `At the Soundless Dawn' as my favorite instrumental CD. But only time will tell, as both those albums still get regular rotation in my player. If you are a fan of the genre this is required listening. Favorite Songs: You Already Did, Death Rides A Horse, and Micah. -5 Stars IF YOU LIKED, AGREED, OR APPRECIATED THIS PLEASE CLICK YES FOR: "Was this review helpful?"

DAKOTA/DAKOTAのGrとBa、RIDDLE OF STEELのDrが新たに組んだロシアン・サークル ISISとの絡みも多く、荘厳で抑揚のあるインストゥルメンタルは 間違いなくこの手のバンドの中では最高峰だ

No se puede esperar nada malo de esta banda... excelente producción y calidad en el prensado e impresión de la funda. Es gatefold con un arte de primera.

Nach dem Einstieg in die Post Rock/Ambient Szene durch Sigur Ros, Mogwai und Mono bin ich letztendlich bei Russian Circles gelandet. Das Album Enter sticht aus diesem Genre meiner Meinung nach deutlich heraus. Musikalisch gesehen ist es eher dem Post Metal als dem Post Rock zuzuschreiben, da es sehr druckvoll und gitarrensoundorientiert daherkommt und einige Bestandteile der Songs dem Bereich Metal zugeordnet werden können. Dies soll niemanden aus derm Post Rock Bereich verschrecken. Wer eher härtere Titel wie z.B. The Precipice vom Mogwai Album The Hawk is Howling mag, wird hier das Richtige finden. Ich gebe der CD 5 Sterne, das Sie für Liebhaber des Postrocks aber auch für den einen oder anderen Metalfan durchaus interessant sein könnte und für mich zu einem der besten Alben des Genres gehört.

Besaß es vorher nur als mp3, dieses Album in CD-Qualität zu hören ist einfach ein Hochgenuss. Geschmäcker sind verschieden: für mich ein Meisterwerk des Rock.