Nine

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 of consistency and quality that 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, it’s fair to say that 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 based in Chicago, and bassist/keyboardist Brian Cook living in Vashon Island, outside of Seattle – the band triangulate their relative positions for Nine. Its seven seismic tracks act as long-form oriented 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 elaborates. Whereas earlier albums were almost playful in their traversing of territories, Nine is a document of a band that knows the lay of the land and is fortifying their dominion over the varied terrain.