Chicago-bred post-metal trio Russian Circles' new album, Nine, continues their unhurried evolution and disciplined refinement, leaning into their strengths while pushing at the boundaries of their sound. This is a band with no hit songs. No fan consensus on their best album. Just a reputation for consistency and quality that has built one of the biggest heavy instrumental rock bands in the world. While they insist that their music is a confluence of broad-ranging influences, Russian Circles’ adventurous diversity has developed into a distinct and singular sound. Although Russian Circles is now spread across the country — guitarist Mike Sullivan in Los Angeles, drummer Dave Turncrantz in Chicago, and bassist/keyboardist Brian Cook on Vashon Island outside Seattle — the band triangulate their relative positions on Nine. Its seven seismic tracks act as long-form soundtracks to the trials and tragedies of life in the modern age. “The music we make is a collective process of reconciliation, navigation and reflection upon aging both as individuals and as a creative entity. Life has created very real distances between us, but the band continues to be at the center, and this creative collaboration is a way of charting the passage of time while also giving us a reason to look to the future,” the band explain. Whereas earlier albums were almost playful in their traversal of different territories, Nine is a document of a band that knows the lay of the land and is fortifying its dominion over varied terrain.
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