Russian Circles

by Ljós Berinn

In the sonic fault lines of Chicago, where post-rock meets metal and bends it into something else entirely, Russian Circles have built their temple. Formed in 2004 from the mind of guitarist Mike Sullivan and drummer Dave Turncrantz, they soon welcomed bassist Brian Cook, completing a trio of instruments that, armed with nothing more than guitar, bass and drums, has managed to carve out entire universes. Theirs is a music that needs no words to tell its stories: a dialogue of frequencies in which Sullivan's experimental loops conjure legions of "ghost guitars", while Cook weaves dark layers of bass that seem to come from another dimension, and Turncrantz, with his mathematical precision, holds it all together with hypnotic, motorik beats.

From their debut "Enter" (2006) to the latest, monumental "Nine" (2026), their discography is a long journey through the topographies of the soul. Every album, from "Station" to "Memorial" (featuring Chelsea Wolfe), through to "Guidance", "Blood Year" and "Gnosis", has dug a deeper groove into their personal mythology. With "Nine", their ninth chapter, the three musicians, now scattered between Chicago, Los Angeles and an island off Seattle, have turned distance into creative fuel.
As they have stated, their music is a "collective process of reconciliation, navigation and reflection on aging, both as individuals and as a creative entity". And in an age of distraction and fragmentation, their ability to tell stories without a single word remains an act of pure, stubborn magic.