Russian Circles announce supports for “GNOSIS” Australia & New Zealand tour

Written By Thomas Gilmore

Underground legends RUSSIAN CIRCLES have announced an array of local support acts for their return to Australian & New Zealand shores in 2024.

The instrumental trio will bring their brooding and intense live show to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne during February 2024 with doom-jazz quartet TANGLED THOUGHTS OF LEAVING joining for all Australian shows.

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving are in the midst of touring their new record ‘Oscillating Forest’ the follow up to their acclaimed 2018 record ‘No Tether.’ Their brutally intense live show is a perfectly curated match for a night of dark catharsis.

Supporting at all New Zealand shows is Melbourne’s Myriad Drone (albeit sporting half the band originally from NZ). The band are currently celebrating the remaster and re-release of their debut album ‘Arka Morgana.’ They recently shared the stage with Switzerland’s hubris and will release new music in 2024. They will also open the show in Melbourne on Friday 9 February.

In Sydney, the lineup features the return of post-rock legends MENISCUS. The band will play their first show in 4 years at the Metro Theatre, drawing on material from across their catalogue, including their landmark records ‘Refractions’, ‘War of Currents’ and ‘Absence of I’. Often cited as one of Australia’s most influential post-rock bands, their incendiary live show is a cornerstone of that reputation.

Melbourne locals TREEBEARD will join the lineup on Friday 9 Feb in Melbourne, touring in support of their new single ‘Great White’ & following their signing to Bird’s Robe for the re-release of their debut record ‘Nostalgia.’

Melbourne’s Mushroom Giant will join the lineup in Brisbane and Melbourne (Sat Feb 10). Fresh from touring Europe earlier this year performing at Belgium’s Dunk Festival, the band are touring their new album ‘In A Forest’. Their legendary psychedelic-post-metal shows are an aural and visual feast for the senses and have been consistently lauded over their 20-year career.

Prog-post-metal favourites BEAR THE MAMMOTH will also perform in Melbourne on Sat Feb 10, following a successful Australian tour in support of their new album ‘Purple Haus.’

RUSSIAN CIRCLES themselves are known for their combination of epic walls of sound with technical dexterity and driving rhythms. Their intense compositions have earned them a loyal cult following that has seen them tour extensively worldwide since forming in the windy city of Chicago in 2004.

Across the span of their previous seven studio albums, the Chicago-based post-metal group have traversed a diverse topography of sounds, moods, and approaches with their limited armory of drums, bass, and guitar. It’s difficult to chart an evolution in their sound when their records have always felt like well-curated playlists. It wasn’t uncommon to hear drone-heavy meditations, dazzling prog exercises, knuckle-dragging riff-fests, haunting folk ballads, and tension-baiting noise rock all within the span of one album. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the progression from the pensive and intricate melodies of Enter (2006) to the layered distorted dirges of Blood Year (2019). It’s been a gradual sonic shift owing to the band’s rigorous tour schedule and a predilection towards playing their more authoritative material on stage. But with their latest album, GNOSIS, the band eschew the varied terrain of their past work and bulldoze a path through the most tumultuous and harrowing territory of their sound.

As was the case for so many artists in the age of COVID, the obstacles of geography and isolation forced them re-evaluate their writing process. Rather than crafting songs out of fragmented ideas in the practice room, full songs were written and recorded independently before being shared with other members, so that their initial vision was retained. While these demos spanned the full breadth of the band’s varied styles, the more cinematic compositions were ultimately excised in favour of the physically cathartic pieces.

GNOSIS was engineered and mixed by Kurt Ballou. Drums and bass were tracked at Electrical Audio in Chicago to maximize the natural room sounds of the rhythm section. Guitar and synth overdubs were conducted at God City in Salem, MA to take advantage of Ballou’s vast inventory of amps and effects pedals. Despite the entirety of the album being written remotely, the songs were recorded with the full band playing together to retain the live feel of the material. Owing to the climate of the times and a new writing method, Russian Circles have created their most fuming and focused work to date—an album that favours the exorcism of two years’ worth of tension over the melancholy and restraint that often coloured their past endeavors.

Since returning to the touring circuit, the band have played an exhaustive series of shows across the globe, with many acclaiming them as the best of their career. Drummer Dave Turncrantz and bassist Brian Cook’s rhythmic drive and flair alongside Mike Sullivan’s impressive guitar work display a unique rapport built over a decade of touring, writing and recording together.

Thomas Gilmore
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