Band : Circle
Album title : Rautatie
Label : Ektro Records
Distributor : Clearspot
Release date : 2010
Review : CD

What a treat to review Pori, Finland based Circle again. This band has been around since 1991 but in those years they've been quite prolific, with  22 full lengths, 11 live albums and numerous CDEPs . This is their latest and one of their greatest, Rautatie. Their base sound is most reminiscent of experimental psych kraut overlain with 80s metal (Saxon, Accept, Priest), avant-prog and a punk n' roll groove to propel it along.

Highlights? “Rautatie” which is blisteringly haunting cross between old school Judas Priest and Can. I like the bouncy punky interlude in the middle and the generous guitar assaults. Style-wise, “Lääke” and “Tähet” provide us with tons of catchy kraut metallic groove. There are more than a few songs on this CD that stick to one's memory. I really like “Vaellus” - the initial riff could come from a twisted Van Halen album. Then add the sonic Accept-treatment of the guitar and the simultaneous lead guitar and vocals, a la Halford and you get a classic track that just rocks. The sometimes operatic vocals may seem a bit strange at first listen for someone that's not familiar with Circle and their style, but after a few more spins you come to realize no other vocal style could possibly fit this – it's just as it needs to be. During “Kohtalon Sormi” they successfully incorporate Mertens stirring Greenaway film scores and VanderGraaf Generator dark prog bits. Solos are kept to a minimum but there is plenty of guitar bites by three axemen in the lead arrangements The structures of the last songs are not necessarily immediately obvious; but there is a definite zeuhlish (Univers Zero, Magma, Present) tendency in using repetition to build an haunting tension. The creepy ambience does add quite a bit to this album, but the main appeal still is within the moody songs. Circle make hypnotic, occasionally chaotic music that refuses to stand still.

It is the sort of release that requires more than a couple listens to really quite grasp what these crazy fuck-ups have in mind.

95/100

Cosmicmasseur.