Station

I've been a post rock / post metal fan for a while now. My collection includes ISIS, Pelican, Explosions in the Sky, Red Sparrows, Rosetta, Year Of No light, Omega Massif, and of course Russian Circles. I first discovered Russian Circles through their first album, "Enter." I loved this album so much I made a point to see them in concert. I was really excited to give their next album a listen.

I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the musicianship is amazing, as well as the production and the overall sound quality. However, the album is much less heavy than "Enter." The album lacks the contrast found in "Enter." Guitar distortion is rare, and even though the riffs are extremely catchy and well done, they don't bring the same level of aggressiveness to the table. At times, it feels like the songs don't progress toward anything. The songs "Harper Lewis" and "Station" are by far the best songs on this album; they're actually quite amazing. They just don't reach the epic finish found at the end of songs like "Enter" and "Carpe."

In the end, this is a great post-rock album, but if you are expecting something as aggressive and post-"metal"ish as their prior album, you will be disappointed. They have gone from a Red Sparrows sound to an Explosions In The Sky approach.

Basically, the album is like a great joke without a punch line.

All of you must be either high or best friends with these dudes, because there are only two decent tracks here #4 (Verses) and #6 (Xavii). That's it.

I listen to Explosions in the Sky, The Drift, The Sea and Cake, Broken Social Scene and this cd is just not making the cut. i'm sorry I bought it.

I got into the whole post rock/instrumental scene about a year ago, and up untill I heard of Russian Circles I thought the whole genre was full of very creative musicians who unfortunetly can not really play their instruments well. Bands like Explosions in the Sky, Isis, or Pelican played music that I like, but it would be pushing it to say that any of them are actually very technical with their playing. Isis was very right-hand rhythm oriented and were talented in that aspect, but compared to other metal bands outside of the post rock genre they really don't measure up much (they still make great songs however). What does all this have to do with Russian Circles and Station? Well beforehand I always had wondered what an instrumental band would sound like if everyone in it were great musicians, and I think with Russian Circle we have the answer.
This CD proves wrong any concept of what defined post rock, other than the long instrumental part. They sound like (for the most part) that they were trying to be a "normal" band with a singer, but along the way they never could find anyone who fit so they just played without one, putting more focus on the music. So lets get right into that:

Campaign: I honestly could care less for this song. It's pretty much just ambience for half the song and then never really builds into anything meaningful. Having said that, I don't mind listening to it, I just feel the album would be the same without it. I usually skip to the next track-

Harper Lewis: This song blew me away the first time I heard it, and it continues to be one of my overall favorite songs of all time. This is where I realized this band was something else: The guitarist uses a loop pedal to play riffs over each other, he's actually playing heavy riffs, and he even finger taps! The drummer has some meaty fills and a few really original rhythms played on the high-hat stand. The bassist has heavy chunky beats to sustain the groove. Overall, with all the changes you would expect from a post rock band thrown in with all the musicianship of a jam band, this song owns.

Station: Pretty much everything I said about the last song goes here as well. Harper Lewis and Station are the two best songs on this album, and I could listen to them over and over again.

Versus: Another song that's ambience based, but I actually like this song. I think it fits very well as an ending to Station. It doesn't hold much on its own however. Has a cool disorted bass line.

Youngblood: This song tries to be another hard hitting heavy song like Harper Lewis or Station, but imo it falls short. It's still not a bad song, but it just doesn't really quite reach what those other songs did. Starts with a constant driving pace up untill about the last minute, then it dies/rebuilds for a pretty solid epic ending.

Xavii: The last song on the album is one more of thier slower atmospheric songs. The shortest song on the album by quite a bit, it just seems to be there as a needed ending. It's not a bad song, but it's not a great one either.

Overall, I think I would really rate this album with four songs becuase of the slower songs that I usually skip. But because of the inventiveness of their few masterpieces, I give it five. You can't hear music like this anywhere else, comparing them to other instrumental bands just doesn't work, they are too different. If you can, give Harper Lewis or Station a listen, trust me it's wortht the album. I can't wait to see what they come out with next!

simply.

i heard some of the songs off this on their recent US tour with daughters and young widows, and i was blown away. i hadn't even known this was out until after i saw the show, but immediately bought it.

i really don't know what to say about this album except it is much better in every way. they have really outdone themselves and their previous releases with this one, and i have to say it's one of my favorite albums of all time.

i just hope they don't stray too far from what they have here, it'd be a real shame.

If Russian Circles' first album was great, then their second album, Station, is...well, also great. Apparently they have remained aware of what is musically important right now, without stagnating themselves by composing typical run-of-the-mill post-rock. No, instead Russian Circles now has a catalog containing two developed and intricate albums of enigmatic instrumental music that can keep one's interest from start to finish without relying on hooks and with little to no hints of pretension. Not to mention a good balance of lights and heavies.

Station starts out on the light side with "Campaign," which is pleasantly mellow yet panoramic and multi-layered at the same time. "Harper Lewis" is a reminder--in case "Campaign" distracted you from the fact--that this band often crosses the ill-defined and often obscure boundaries between rock and metal. It is a post-apocalyptic, plodding dirge with an electric punch, which opens the door into the self-titled track, which contains what is probably the most memorable series of riffs on the album. Combine that with more-than-competent drumming that shifts so easily between being primal and tribal to being delicate and shrewd. "Verses" calms the mood down, starting with a more ambient and atmospheric sound, and adding a rather amazing melody that begins right around the 3:45 mark. "Youngblood" delivers another memorable metallic riff and breaks off into sections that altogether seem to effortlessly merge modern-day post-rock with old-school traditional metal. The album concludes logically with the slow and meditative "Xavii," which easily brings things to an end, yet hints at a promise of more to come.

Station is a success. Hopefully Russian Circles will stay in the game for a long time, and take their time in making fresh music in the years to come. With their honed songwriting skills and great live performances, they should be a band that doesn't just come and go, and it safe to hope for future material that is equally as good or even better than what they have presented so far. Recommended also for fans of Explosions in the Sky, Isis, Pelican, etc.