After three opening bands, the Russian Circles trio took the stage at the El Rey on Friday night, and with not a single word during the whole set, in a semi-darkness only disturbed by dim lights on the floor, they played their long, intricate and ever-changing instrumentals, that had total head-banging-metal moments and so much more. It would effectively be very simplistic to qualify the Chicago band of metal, as their fluid songs were offering a lot of diversity inside the same track, building a narrative tension, looking for a certain ambiance, then shifting toward another thicker progression.
Placed at each side of the stage, with Dave Turncrantz on drums in the back middle, Mike Sullivan on guitar and Brian Cook on bass, delivered an energetic set, with hardly an interruption between their long and epic tracks, which often sounded like a soundtrack for an action movie, involving at least a few car chases and other wild rides full of obstacles. It was interesting to follow, quite unpredictable, more organized than chaotic, more geometrical than atmospheric, always complex and sometimes repetitive, and honestly very difficult to describe.
Some songs had this delicate melodic introduction lasting minutes and minutes, before turning into this post-rock-post-metal epic numbers, elevating a tension, reaching a new plateau then going higher or racing to a different progression.
It was sometimes brutal, but always technical and efficient, and some of their riffs triggered a few violent moves in the crowd, which had stayed quite calm so far, but these moves didn’t go too far, as the unpredictability of the music and its quiet moments didn’t allow any real mosh pit to form.
The tracks (I read on the set list that they only played seven but long songs) were dark but not bleak, dense and going crescendo, executed with real brio, packed with brilliant jams and many attacks by Mike Sullivan, who even shredded on the neck of the guitar as Marnie Stern does it. But I was wondering whether they were just replicating a record or experimenting on stage, as they were even expanding the sound from one song to the next with some breathing-humming guitars in between.
As I said before, it was interesting music, but not totally my thing as the technique and the sophistication of it was surpassing any possible emotion, but the crowd totally loved them, calling them for an encore. I was just intrigued by this wall of loud distortion they had built around them, not saying a word and seemingly ignoring the crowd for more than an hour.
But, as soon as they were done, I saw them going to the edge of the stage, shaking fans’ hands and giving away themselves their setlist.
Setlist:
309
Harper Lewis
Geneva
Carpe
Schipol
Youngblood
Mladek