Album Review: Guidance by Russian Circles

Chicago trio Russian Circles release their sixth album Guidance on 5^th August via Sargent House. With a career spanning more than 10 years and continual growth in sound, this is far more than just your average instrumental album. While the band largely sticks to their distinctive brand of post rock/metal the boundaries are tested and pushed to their limits.

Guidance has a couple of different conflicting guises, it can be considered the band’s heaviest  work while also containing their quietest and most serene moments; it’s their most expansive and ambitious album while being refined and making use of simple yet effective structures. For other bands this may lead to a muddled album, for Russian Circles this is their most accomplished work to date.

Opener ‘Asa’ leads you gently into Guidance. It has all the hallmarks of a band confident in their sound, unafraid to push the more expansive elements to create a sonic landscape that makes you feel at home and serene. Moving things in a different direction, ‘Voral’ is thunderous and visceral in it heaviness. The guitars are commanding and forthright, this is the moment that separates the weak from the strong. You can’t help but be blown away by the power being each thunderous riff. It’s the moment in which you realise that Russian Circles have done something special on Guidance.

‘Mota’ blends the technical quieter moments with blistering riffs. At times you’ll be reminded of Maybeshewill at their most expansive while the heavy parts take on a more intricate feel compared to the churning riffs of ‘Voral’. This propels Russian Circles into commanding and progressive post metal territory. ‘Afrika’ shines bright in being the band’s mercurial anthem – expansive and challenging it delves into your core grabbing at your heartstrings and developing into a true emotional masterpiece.

‘Overboard’ tones things down with its serene and wondrous landscape. That said it packs just as much of punch, you can’t help but be affected by its delicate dynamics. Like a savage punch to the face ‘Calla’ explodes with a forthright litany of riffs. Wave after wave of churning riffs come at you, pummelling you to within an inch of your life. Glorious. ‘Lisboa’ excels in its dark and brooding bleakness. Beautiful in a stark and uncompromising form.

Guidance is the album that propels Russian Circles to another level. Not only does it surpass their previous material it solidifies the band’s reputation as one of the best instrumental bands in the business.

AD Rating 9/10