Welcome to this week’s state of the art! I’m proud to introduce you to the Chicago, Illinois instrumental metal band RUSSIAN CIRCLES: a metal outfit that isn’t constrained by the conventional rules many other metal bands religiously adhere to. Where most metal musicians try to pummel the listener with heavy riffs and pure aggression, instrumental trio RUSSIAN CIRCLES (which formed in 2004 and consists of guitarist Mike Sullivan, bassist Brian Cooke, and drummer Dave Turncrantz) opt for the more subtle and nuanced approach of creating music that emphasizes atmospherics over pure brutality, and the result is emotionally stirring heavy metal that ferries the listener on a musical journey through spiritual highs and lows.
