Circle
"Tower"
It should surprise no one that this is yet another new sound for Circle, and I think one that most of us will happily welcome. Although still bearing the moniker 'New wave of Finnish heavy metal', this one definitely bares more relationship to In a Silent Way than Aces High. No sign of vocals at all, just chilled-out grooves that still have Prospekt at their core (though perhaps their exterior is more like a heavily sedated Soft Machine?)
The line-up is the current core of Circle + Mika Rintala (Verde) so he is listed here as special guest super-star.
Like everyone else, I've scratched my head a bit at all the new directions that Circle has tried in the past 5 years, but here I think they've really hit on something brilliant. I don't know a lot of people who would leap at picking up a new fusion album, but Circle has reinvented it in a way that no one other than Circle could pull it off. What do we end up with then? A perfectly accessible album that still pulls off the insatiable/addictive pulse of Prospekt.
"What? Another disc ALREADY
from our favorite Finnish psych/space/prog/metal/drone/wtf? rockers, the one and
only Circle? Good grief, we're still reeling from their amazing Miljard two cd
set on Ektro, and their even more recent, mindblowing Tyrant disc in the limited
edition Latitudes series! Who do they think they are, Acid Mothers Temple? Well,
to be fair, this new album Tower wasn't actually supposed to come out until
April. But it seems that one of the Last Visible Dog label's distributors,
gripped perhaps by Circle-mania, accidentally jumped the gun on the release date
and started shipping it early -- so, well, here it is! And we can't complain,
who wants to wait when a new Circle is concerned?? Especially when we're all
trying to keep up with (as it says on the face of this cd) the "NWONWOFHM", in
other words, the "New Wave Of" the "New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal"... which,
as it turns out, isn't in any way metal at all! Nope, the all-instrumental Tower
follows Miljard in exploring the really really pretty side of the Circle sound.
But unlike Miljard, which was slowly unfolding, almost stately, Tower has much
more of an uptempo, rapid pulse.
The album seems to divide into two parts. The first four tracks flow together in
sort of suite, burbling beautifully and hypnotically...just so so pleasant. No
heavy riffs, nothing edgy at all. Then there's a pause, and the remaining two
tracks reveal something of a darker, more mysterious sound. Just a bit though,
like a bright sunny day edging towards twilight, the knowledge of the coming
night starting to seep into one's consciousness, some clouds drifting in as
well, but the sun still shining...
Also, you'll note that this album is billed to Circle "featuring Verde" --
referring to special guest Mika Rintala, who has played with Circle and their
jazzier cousin Ektroverde as well, and whose solo albums, recorded under the
Verde monicker, we've raved about here before. We're not sure how to judge the
"Verde-factor" here, but we do note that in addition to playing on this album he
also recorded and mixed it. Maybe this does remind us a bit of some of
Ektroverde's output, come to think of it... there's definitely a spaced-out,
jazzy fusion groove here, of shuffling drums and chiming synths, that makes for
a relaxing soundtrack we wouldn't feel foolish recommending to fans of The Necks
and Miles Davis as well as Ektroverde, Verde and Circle too of course...
Now we wonder, what will the NWONWONWOFMHM be like? At this rate, chances are
we'll find out sometime soon... "
--Aquarius Records