Russian Circles – Empros – album review

By
down.caster
– 12/04/2011Posted in: 3.5 Stars, Album Reviews, Featured, Hip-Hop
Chicago post-rockers Russian Circles turn in their most wide-ranging, coherent LP to date with Empros. Ranging from tense, blank-staring atmospherics to punishing salvos of jagged riffs, Empros is an epic statement, but it’s not flawless. Despite the impressive dynamics on Russian Circles’ fourth LP since forming in 2004, the group falls short in the category that separates good post-rock from great post-rock: melody. There are melodies throughout Empros, but they’re subtle, droning and otherwise obscured by the album’s twilit gravity. That said, what Russian Circles lack in melody on Empros, they make up for with textural dynamics and rhythmic changes.

3.5 / 5

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About down.caster

Downcaster(s) is not a music critic, he's a music fan. So he usually doesn't talk about music from a "you should listen to this because it's moving art forward" perspective. He likes the "you should listen to it because it kicks ass" perspective.