Russian Circles | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2004 | –present
Labels | Flameshovel, Sargent House, Suicide Squeeze |
Members | Mike Sullivan Dave Turncrantz Brian Cook |
Past members | Colin DeKuiper |
Website | russiancircles |
Russian Circles is an American instrumental post-metal band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their original bass player Colin DeKuiper in 2007, the trio was rounded out by Brian Cook. The band has gained widespread recognition based on a series of critically acclaimed albums and extensive international touring. Their name is taken from a drill exercise used in ice hockey, a sport Sullivan and Turncrantz grew up playing in their original hometown of St. Louis.
Russian Circles was formed in late 2004 by guitarist Mike Sullivan and bassist Colin DeKuiper (both formerly of instrumental band Dakota/Dakota), they quickly recruited drummer Dave Turncrantz, formerly of St. Louis band Riddle of Steel.
In the autumn of 2007, it was announced that the band had parted ways with Colin DeKuiper. As a result, the bass tracks on their second album, titled Station , were handled by ex-Botch/These Arms Are Snakes bass player Brian Cook, who then joined the band permanently. [1] The group's third full-length, Geneva , was released on October 20, 2009 and reached No. 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. [2]
In 2011, Russian Circles signed to Sargent House who had previously only exclusively released the band's albums on limited edition vinyl. Their fourth studio album Empros was released on October 25, 2011. A supporting tour with Deafheaven followed the release. [3] In May 2013 the group began recording their fifth studio album, produced by Brandon Curtis. [4] Memorial was released at the end of October 2013 and featured a guest-vocal by Chelsea Wolfe. [5] Together they embarked on a co-headlining UK/European tour in the fall. [6]
Russian Circles released its sixth studio album Guidance on August 5, 2016 through Sargent House. The album was produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge fame. [7] On August 1, 2019, they released their seventh studio album, Blood Year , recorded at GodCity Studio in Salem and Steve Albini's Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago and again produced by Kurt Ballou. [8] [9]
The band's eighth album Gnosis was released on August 19, 2022 via Sargent House. It was engineered and mastered by Kurt Ballou. [10]
Converge is an American metalcore band formed by vocalist and artist Jacob Bannon and guitarist and producer Kurt Ballou in Salem, Massachusetts in 1990. While recording their landmark fourth album Jane Doe in 2001, the group became a four-piece with the departure of guitarist Aaron Dalbec and the addition of bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. This lineup has remained intact since. The members have also been involved in various side-projects and collaborations, including the bands Supermachiner (Bannon), Old Man Gloom (Newton), and Mutoid Man (Koller). With their extremely aggressive and boundary-pushing sound, rooted in hardcore and heavy metal, they are pioneers of metalcore and its subgenre mathcore.
Botch was an American mathcore band formed in 1993 in Tacoma, Washington. The band, featuring Brian Cook, Dave Knudson, Tim Latona and Dave Verellen, spent four years as a garage band and released several demos and EPs before signing to Hydra Head Records. Through the label, Botch released two studio albums: American Nervoso (1998) and We Are the Romans (1999). The group toured extensively and internationally in support of their albums with like-minded bands such as The Blood Brothers, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ink & Dagger and Jesuit. Botch struggled to write a third studio album, and in 2002 the group broke up due to tensions among the band members and creative differences. Hydra Head posthumously released an EP of songs the group had been working on before they split titled An Anthology of Dead Ends and a live album documenting their final show titled 061502 in 2006.
These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home (2004), Easter (2006) and Tail Swallower and Dove (2008). Former members of These Arms Are Snakes currently play in Russian Circles, Narrows, Minus the Bear, Crypts, Dust Moth, and Hooves.
Geneva is the third studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles, and was released on October 20, 2009. The album was recorded in May 2009 with Brandon Curtis of The Secret Machines. The vinyl version of the album was released by Sargent House and was available on both a black 2x12" 45 rpm edition and a more limited clear 2x12" 45 rpm edition.
Sargent House is an American management company and record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and also owns a music video production company called Refused TV. Pellow began managing the rock outfit RX Bandits in 2006. The band needed to release its new album ...And the Battle Begun, so Pellow decided to launch her own record label. From that point onward, Pellow continued to manage bands and release records, all under the Sargent House banner.
Brian Cook is an American bassist and musician currently in the bands Botch, Russian Circles and Sumac. He was also previously a full-time member of These Arms Are Snakes and Roy, and also a session musician for Mouth of the Architect. Cook is also a freelance journalist and has published a book titled The Second Chair is Meant for You. He is gay.
Empros is the fourth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles. The album was released on October 25, 2011 through Sargent House. This is Russian Circles' first album released solely through Sargent House; for their first three albums, Sargent House released limited edition vinyl copies, while CD and digital copies were handled by either Suicide Squeeze Records or Flameshovel Records.
Chelsea Joy Wolfe is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work blends elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk.
Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance art CD and DVDs.
Memorial is the fifth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles. The album was released on October 29, 2013 through Sargent House. Memorial was produced by Brandon Curtis, who also produced the band's two previous albums, Empros (2011) and Geneva (2009).
Marriages was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California that formed in 2011. The band's final lineup consisted of vocalist and guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle, bassist Greg Burns and drummer Andrew Clinco.
Stephen Brodsky is an American rock musician, best known as a member of Cave In, Mutoid Man, New Idea Society and Old Man Gloom. He also has a solo career and is a former member of Converge, Kid Kilowatt, Parasite and Pet Genius.
Abyss is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter and her eponymous band Chelsea Wolfe. The album was released on August 7, 2015 through Sargent House and was produced by John Congleton. It also features guest contributions from Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles and Dan Phillips from True Widow.
Guidance is the sixth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles, released on August 5, 2016 through Sargent House. The album was recorded and produced at GodCity Studio by Kurt Ballou.
Hiss Spun is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe, released on September 22, 2017, by Sargent House. The album was recorded in Salem, Massachusetts, at Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou's God City Studio. Produced by Wolfe and Ben Chisholm, the album also features guitar contributions from Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age and a guest appearance from Aaron Turner of Isis.
War Moans is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mutoid Man, released on June 20, 2017 through Sargent House.
Trumpeting Ecstasy is the third studio album by the American grindcore band Full of Hell. The Kurt Ballou (Converge) produced album was released on May 5, 2017 through Profound Lore Records.
Blood Year is the seventh studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles, released on August 1, 2019 through Sargent House. The album was recorded and produced at GodCity Studio in Salem and Steve Albini's Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago by Kurt Ballou.
Bloodmoon: I is the tenth studio album by American metalcore band Converge, and a collaboration album with Chelsea Wolfe. It was released on November 19, 2021, via Epitaph Records and Deathwish Inc, the band's first studio album in four years since 2017's The Dusk in Us. Converge's longtime collaborator Stephen Brodsky and Wolfe's longtime collaborator Ben Chisholm also contributed. The album was produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou and the artwork was created by the band's singer Jacob Bannon. It was met with universal critical acclaim, receiving an average score of 89 based on 10 reviews aggregated by Metacritic.
Gnosis is the eighth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles. It was released on August 19, 2022, through Sargent House.