Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Circle - Golem/Vesiliirto [Ektro Records - 2013]

This two disc CD set brings together two out-print albums from the mighty yet unpredictable locked riff multi genre wonder of Finland’s Circle. Golem is a live album recorded in 2003, and Vesiliirto is a studio album from the same year- and both releases find the band in a more free-form, experimental, and largely jam based mood.

This release originally appeared back in 2004, as a joint vinyl release between two fairly small Finish labels: Kevyt Nostalgia  & Super Metsä. This 2013 reissue adds in thirty five minutes of unreleased material which is spread over both discs & both albums.

On disc one we have Golem which is the live album, and this takes in the albums original five tracks, plus one extra track in the form track number two “Matka”. The six tracks last between just over the five minute mark to just under the nineteen minute mark.  With track titles like “At War With Mercy”, “Salamander Sword” and “Forbidden Steel Patriot”, you’d expect the band to be in their cheesy 1980’s metal setting, but instead the tracks are fairly lose yet persistent  brews of bounding ‘n’ mostly quite dirgey jams that mixers in elements of  pounding yet  layered percussion, guitars & bass with  jazzy rock organ runs, harmonica flourishers, & Fx mixed layers of vocals & voices.  The tracks really have little formal structure, shape or melody in much of their running times, and they often feel like you on a bizarre free-fall though the bands collective conciseness as different genre elements drift & dart by. There are elements of malevolent brooding psychedelic drone matter, surreal honky tonk, jazz rock drifts, rock ‘n’ roll,  mellow 70’s tinged folk rock, ect.  It’s certainly not an easy record, but if you have some grounding in the bands more free form/ experimental side there’s a lot to savoy here.

On disc two we have Vesiliirto which is the studio album. And this originally featured five tracks, and this new reissue takes in one & a half new tracks (the albums last track is now in two parts, hence the half track)….so we now have six tracks in all. All the track titles this time are in Finish, and once again we have a fairly mixed track length between just over four & a half minutes, to just shy of twenty two minute mark.  The album starts off in a similar manner to Golem with quite a dense/ free structure, but as the album progresses the tracks seem to have a bit more shape, melody & form to them….through there still fairly experimental/ jam like in their feel.  We go from the “Tuliset miekat käsissä” with it’s on/off vamping organ textures, wondering bass line, spacey synth trails, tribal almost African tinged  drum lines, and blues to rock ‘n’ roll weaved guitar work.  To the layered head fucking psychedelics of “Neljä kolkkaa” which mixers together repetitive & wonky bass churn with layers of hazed hammered dulcimer like textures,  darts of FX  & slow down voice elements, and eerier drone lo-fi ness. On the whole it’s a rewarding album that sees the band return to their more circular sound, yet still retain some of the surprise & sonic free-fall of Golem.


So all in all this a worthy reissue of two Circle albums that find the band in a more free & loose experimental form- it’s not really a release for newbie’s to the Circle cause, but those who are familiar with the band & enjoy their more free/experimental edges will find a lot here to enjoy & get lost in.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Circle - Golem/Vesiliirto
This two disc CD set brings together two out-print albums from the mighty yet unpredictable locked riff multi genre wonder of Finland’s Circle. Golem is a li...
290324   Stuart Argabright & AfterAfte...
290324   Piranha - Piranha(DVD)
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom