Circle
Circle are a very weird band. They’re a group of Finns who emblazon NWOFHM (New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal) on all their releases (and they have a lot of releases), but aren’t really a proper metal band. Sometimes, they do a tripped out version of Judas Priest, but other times they’re doing spacey psychedelia or neo-krautrock or weirdo folk or who knows what. I mean, Boris does the same thing, but Circle have a certain archness and keep something of a distance between the genres they are playing (and playing with) and themselves. That doesn’t mean they don’t rock the fuck out. Because they do. To me, though, one of the most important parts of being a true metal band is the absence of self consciousness. When a real metal band doesn’t care if you think their guitar solos and spandex pats or death grunts and corpse paint are goofy (and taken out of context, a lot of things about metal are pretty goofy). And if they are aware of that, they don’t really care about it at all.
Which is why I wouldn’t call Circle a metal band. They are a fucking awesome band, though. Their newest album (and fourth of 2007) is Katapult and is being released on No Quarter Records. This time, they are taking a stab at early Black Metal (read:Venom). Well, at least sort of. Some of the tracks contain the grunted vocals, primal drums and basic riffs that Venom put to such good use, but they aren’t done in a pastiche fashion. Circle fold them into a mix of synthesizer washes, clean guitar and gentle piano. And some of the tracks don’t contain even a trace of Black Metal signifiers, but still fit in with the rest of the album. I haven’t heard all of Circle’s albums, not even close. But I’d say this is the best one that I have heard.
Opening track “Saturnus Reality” takes the aforementioned Venom-isms and blends them with some odd drum machine programming, synthesizers and a string section.
Circle - Saturnus Reality from Katapult
