Circle of Dust

Last updated

Circle of Dust
Circle of Dust logo.svg
Logo since 1992
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1988–1998
  • 2015–present
Labels
Members Klayton
Past membersDaren "Klank" Diolosa
John "og" Lopez
Jason Tilton
Chris Donahue
Rich "Wretch" Fantasia
Website circleofdust.net

Circle of Dust is an industrial music project from New York City created by Klayton, who later became known as Celldweller. The project was active as a band from 1988 to 1998 and then re-started in 2015 after Klayton gained back ownership of his old albums. The project has released five studio albums: Circle of Dust (1992), Brainchild (1994), a re-recording of Circle of Dust (1995), Disengage (1998), and Machines of Our Disgrace (2016).

Contents

History

Formation, Circle of Dust and Brainchild (1991–1995)

Klayton (the band's founder) in 2010 Celldweller Day 1 (cropped).jpg
Klayton (the band's founder) in 2010

Klayton formed Circle of Dust in New York City after the disbandment of his former late '80s thrash metal outfit Immortal. [1] Signed to R.E.X. Records in 1991, Klayton self-recorded and self-produced all of the Circle of Dust material. The self-titled debut album, released by R.E.X. in 1992, has been described as "post-Pretty Hate Machine industrial pop". [2] That same year, Klayton, using the pseudonym Tox, teamed up with R.E.X. president Doug Mann that same year to create Brainchild and release Mindwarp, which featured music more intense than Circle of Dust's debut and showcased dark cyberpunk-esque lyrics [3] that were largely political in nature, and harsher, more thrash-influenced metal guitars. The now-defunct television show MTV Sports used part of the song "Deviate" for its long-time intro. [1] After the release of both albums, Klayton also produced the Metamorphosis compilation (1993), which collected outtakes from Circle of Dust, Mindwarp, and Living Sacrifice's Nonexistent , the latter of which featured Klayton's programming work. The compilation also included Klayton's own remixes of songs from each of those three albums.

In 1994, R.E.X. obtained a new distribution deal and pressed Klayton for a new release. As a stopgap measure, he re-recorded and remixed portions of Brainchild's Mindwarp album and re-issued it under the Circle of Dust moniker, altering the cover art to reflect the album's new status. R.E.X., however, urged Klayton, who was touring incessantly, to record a brand-new album; instead, Klayton opted to completely re-record the Circle of Dust's debut and album, the sonic quality of which he had been strongly dissatisfied with. [4] [5] This re-issue (1995), with vastly improved musicianship and recording quality, [2] scrapped three songs and included four new ones, but retained identical artwork. [4] Circle of Dust toured heavily to promote both re-issues. The live touring band, by this point, included Daren "Klank" Diolosa on guitars, Chris Donohue on bass and keyboard, and Jason Tilton on drums. [6] [7]

When the 1995 tour concluded, Circle of Dust made plans to write and record new material. Unfortunately, R.E.X. lost its distribution deal, slid into bankruptcy, and found itself unable to pay the musicians money they were owed. Even though R.E.X. was not solvent enough to distribute any new Circle of Dust material, the label refused to let Circle of Dust out of their contract to seek another label. As a result, Klayton opted to disband the touring lineup and put Circle of Dust on hiatus while awaiting the outcome of R.E.X.'s financial situation. [3]

Hiatus and side projects (1995–1998)

In between touring and recording for Circle of Dust, Klayton kept busy with a variety of other projects. In 1994, he contributed to and produced a side project with members of The Crucified called Chatterbox, which released Despite, its sole album. That same year, Klayton teamed up with friend Buka and began work on yet another side project, Argyle Park, under three pseudonyms: Dred, Deathwish, and Celldweller. Argyle Park featured a vast collection of guest collaborators, including Tommy Victor of Prong, JG Thirlwell of Foetus, and Mark Salomon (Stavesacre, The Crucified), and would go on to attain notoriety equal to that of Circle of Dust, losing the distinction of being a mere side project. In 1996, Klayton produced and programmed Still Suffering, the debut album of former Circle of Dust guitarist Daren "Klank" Diolosa. The unreleased songs Klank had written for Circle of Dust the year prior ended up on this album. [8]

After Klayton put Circle of Dust on hiatus in 1995, he worked with illusionist Criss Angel to work on theatrical music and a magic show called Angeldust. [9] It was during his work with Angel that Klayton changed his name from Scott Albert to Klay Scott, a nickname Angel gave him to denote his ability to "take sounds and shape them as if they were clay". [5] Klayton and Angel worked for over two years to finalize their multi-media show and released an initial album of music in 1998 called Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion. During that same period of creativity, Klayton also recorded a posthumous Circle of Dust album as a formal gesture of farewell. [10]

Disengage (1998)

Released in 1998 by Flying Tart Records, Disengage marked the formal end of Circle of Dust and contained reworkings of earlier songs (1991-1995) Klayton had written, some of which he had intended to release back in 1995 on a new Circle of Dust album. [9] Klayton had rearranged and melded these older songs with new forms of music with which Klayton had been experimenting, [11] thus becoming hybrids of Klayton's older, faster, riff-based industrial-metal style and newer dance and ambient influences, with a stronger focus on songwriting. Thus the album was markedly different, musically, from the earlier Circle of Dust and Brainchild albums. Klayton closed the album with a selection of remixes, two of which were produced by Dan Leveler, who, it was later revealed, was Klayton's younger brother and who later became a solo industrial/electronic artist in his own right, recording under the name Level. The liner notes of Disengage contains excerpts of an interview in which Klayton explained why he had disbanded Circle of Dust and started anew with Angeldust.[ citation needed ]

Much like Klayton's experiences with R.E.X., his short deal with Flying Tart provided a number of frustrations. Although Klayton intended to release Disengage in 1997 and precede its release with an EP of Disengage remixes titled Refractorchasm, Flying Tart canceled the EP's release and delayed Disengage until 1998, requiring Klayton to tack the EP onto Disengage in order to ensure the release of the music. [12] The label also reduced the length of the album's art booklet, which Klayton self-designed. Within two weeks of signing his contract with Flying Tart, the label was bought out and dissolved, ensuring the album saw extremely limited distribution. [13]

Return and Machines of Our Disgrace (2015–2017)

In November 2015, Klayton announced that he had obtained the rights to the entire Circle of Dust catalog, including the Metamorphosis compilation and Argyle Park side project, and decided to revive his Circle of Dust moniker, stating on YouTube, "I ... decided to dive back into production as Circle of Dust for the new Celldweller album. I wanted to take what I'm doing now and reinterpret it in the way I used to produce. ... There is an official Circle of Dust remix of "Jericho" on End of an Empire. ... There's another track coming, brand-new, with Circle of Dust involved in the production, and it will be in your hands before the end of this year." [14] Klayton also announced the 2016 re-release (with bonus content) of the entire Circle of Dust catalog on his FiXT label. [15]

On March 4, 2016, Klayton released the remaster of the 1992 self-titled album, [16] which included a bonus track on the deluxe edition, "Neophyte", from the fifth studio album coming in December 2016. [17] Also included in the deluxe edition are instrumental demos, a remix on "Nothing Sacred" from Blue Stahli, an acoustic version of "Onenemy", and their instrumental tracks. [15] Circle of Dust's fifth studio album, Machines of Our Disgrace , was released in December 2016, on Klayton's own label FiXT. [18]

Reception

Circle of Dust was popular in Christian alternative metal circles during most of the 1990s. In writing the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, Mark Allan Powell refers to the band as "the quintessential Christian industrial rock group." [10] Unusual for an underground alternative Christian band of the time, Circle of Dust gained nearly as much exposure and appreciation in mainstream industrial audiences as it did among Christian audiences. [4] Circle of Dust, along with Argyle Park, are regularly cited as influences by modern-day Christian industrial, industrial-metal, and electronic rock bands. Continued interest had been sufficient enough that, in the early 2000s, a small independent record company called Retroactive Records obtained the rights to the old Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Brainchild, and Metamorphosis albums, remastered them, and re-issued them in limited runs of 1,000 each. However, Retroactive Records produced the re-issues without the creative input or supervision of Klayton, who has expressed his displeasure at the fact that his old works were marketed again without his permission and without him receiving any royalties.[ citation needed ]

As early as 1994, Circle of Dust (along with Argyle Park) had been criticized heavily by some Christian music press and by numerous fans for not having religious enough lyrics. [4] These issues culminated in Klayton abandoning the Christian music industry entirely after the release of Disengage, a decision he explained at great length in a 1998 interview with HM Magazine. [13]

Members

Current

Former

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumLabel
1992 Circle of Dust R.E.X.
1994 Brainchild (remastered 2016)
1995Circle of Dust (1995 re-recording, remastered 2016)
1998 Disengage (remastered 2016) Flying Tart [19] [20]
2016 Machines of Our Disgrace FiXT Music
2019Circle of Dust (Demos & Rarities)
2021Circle of Dust (25th Anniversary Edition)

Other releases

Music videos

YearSongDirector
1992"Telltale Crime"–
2016"Contagion" Klayton
2016"Machines of Our Disgrace"
2016"alt_Human"

Singles

YearSongAlbum
2016"Contagion"Machines of Our Disgrace
2016"Neophyte"
2016"Machines of Our Disgrace"
2017"Dust to Dust"Non-album single

Compilation appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celldweller</span> American electronic rock project

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klayton</span> American musician (born 1969)

Klayton Albert is an American multi-instrumentalist from New York City who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. He has led several electronic bands and has performed under a variety of stage names since the early 1990s. His current projects are Celldweller, Scandroid, Circle of Dust and FreqGen.

Argyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000. Signed to Christian music labels, the band suffered repeated controversies within the Christian music scene for not being positive and evangelistic enough in its lyrics and outlook as well as for including contributions from non-Christian musicians. The project was named after an actual park in Babylon, Long Island, where the members of Argyle Park grew up together.

<i>Misguided</i> 1994 studio album by Argyle Park

Misguided is Argyle Park's only album under that name. The album was released in 1994 by R.E.X. Records into the Christian rock market, and sits alongside other early 90s work by Circle of Dust and Mortal as being instrumental in introducing industrial music to the Christian music scene. The album was nominated for Best Metal/Hard Rock Album at the 27th Annual GMA Dove Awards in 1996.

<i>Suspension of Disbelief</i> (album) 2000 studio album by AP2

Suspension of Disbelief is the lone release by American supergroup AP2, put out by Tooth & Nail Records in 2000. AP2 was a "sequel" to the band Argyle Park, who released their only album Misguided in 1994. Argyle Park consisted of Buka and Klayton, while AP2 featured primary players Buka and Level, with Klayton producing the record. In the winter of 2000, Tooth & Nail cut AP2 due to the low sales of this album. Since Buka had only wanted AP2 to release albums for Tooth & Nail, AP2 ended as a band after Tooth & Nail dropped them.

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<i>Celldweller</i> (album) 2003 album by Celldweller

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LVL is both the solo music project and personal moniker for New York City musician Dan Albert. Formerly called Level, he changed his stage name to avoid confusion with others with the same name. His musical output ranges from fast-paced industrial metal to mellow electronica. Albert is the younger brother of musician Klayton.

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<i>Circle of Dust</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Circle of Dust

Circle of Dust is the title of two versions of a studio album American industrial rock band Circle of Dust. The first version was the band's debut, released through R.E.X. Records in 1992. In 1994, Circle of Dust completely re-recorded the album and replaced some songs with new, different tracks. This version, released in 1995 through R.E.X., achieved the 25th slot on CMJ's Hard Rock 75 listings that same year.

<i>Brainchild</i> (Circle of Dust album) 1994 studio album by Circle of Dust

Brainchild is the second studio album by the industrial metal band Circle of Dust, released in 1994 through R.E.X. Music and re-released as a remaster in 2016 through FiXT Music.

<i>Disengage</i> (album) 1998 studio album by Circle of Dust

Disengage is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Circle of Dust, released in 1998, two years after the band was put on hiatus. This is their final piece of material before resurfacing in 2016.

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References

  1. 1 2 Waters, Scott (2007). "Circle of Dust". No Life 'til Metal. Open Publishing. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  2. 1 2 Torreano, Bradley (2007). "Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust". Allmusic. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Circle of Dust Biography". Automatapedia. Open Publishing. 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2007.[ dead link ]
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pyle, Josh. "Radio Free Wheaton interview with Circle of Dust" . Retrieved April 8, 2009.[ dead link ]
  5. 1 2 "Klay Scott interview with RIM Magazine". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  6. ↑ "dusted.com archive - reviews - Gavin". Gavin. Archived from the original on November 4, 1999. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  7. ↑ "dusted.com archive - live images". Archived from the original on April 15, 2000. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Klank interview". hardradio.com. January 14, 1997. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Circle of Dust interview". The Garlic Press. 1997. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
  10. 1 2 Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music . Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. p.  175. ISBN   1-56563-679-1.
  11. ↑ Klay Scott: Jack of All Trades
  12. ↑ "dusted.com archive-reviews-Transcendence". Transcendence. Archived from the original on June 19, 2002. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  13. 1 2 Morrow, Matt. "Klayton: Circle of Dust on leaving R.E.X. Records". HM Magazine. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  14. ↑ ""Ask Celldweller EP.30: Official Circle of Dust Announcement and more!"". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Childers, Chad (February 19, 2016). "Circle of Dust, 'Contagion' – Exclusive Song Premiere". Loudwire . Townsquare Media . Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust (Remastered)". Fixt. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  17. ↑ Frazier, Kelly (March 3, 2016). "First Listen to New Circle Of Dust Track "Neophyte", Bonus Track Featured on the Re-Release of the Debut Self-Titled Album from 1992". Huffington Post . Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Circle of Dust - Machines of Our Disgrace". Fixt. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  19. ↑ [ dead link ]
  20. ↑ McGovern, Brian Vincent (July–August 1998). "Album Reviews: CIRCLE OF DUST Disengage". HM Magazine (72). ISSN   1066-6923.
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