Browse by Artist: CIRCLE

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Arkades
Label:	FOURTH DIMENSION (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	FD 071CD

"Reissue of the now virtually out of print Arkades LP, which was also originally released on Fourth Dimension in Spring 2006, plus an extra disc comprising a live concert recording featuring three lengthy tracks, 'Maltan Haukka,' 'Ibizan Rambo' and 'Fuutikeri.' Following around ten years since their previous (and only) release for Fourth Dimension (the now o/p Ghatarian 7"), this apocalyptic Finnish avant-metal/improv/folk/neu-prog group return with a special live radio session originally recorded for WFMU during their October 2005 U.S. tour. Possibly one of their best, most blissed-out records yet. Featuring two long workouts and wrapped in a Spaghetti Western sleeve. Perfect. And not a Kiss or Judas Priest homage in sight!"

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Sunrise
Label:	HEADSPIN (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$35.00
Catalog #:	HS 309LP

2006 release, restocked; elaborate gatefold double LP version (CD is on No Quarter). "Finnish masters of hypnotic and trance-like hard riffing mix of heavy Kraut -- and spacerock. Hypnotizing repetitive heavy hardrock riffs running through whilst the familiar Circle layered sound are added to the tracks, like violin, eerie keyboards and/or strong guitar-riffs. For anyone into Hawkwind, Can, stoner or hardrock. Heavy, dense and mesmerizingly repetitive. Bashing guitar, downright scary vocals. Their music is energetic, well-crafted and always exciting. This limited double vinyl has an extra unreleased track called ' Mustavuori' taking all of side 4 of the album. A full-blown extensive psychedelic journey." Last copies, now deleted.

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Tulikoira
Label:	HEADSPIN (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	LP + 7"
Price:	$32.00
Catalog #:	HS 311LP

Deluxe gatefold vinyl version of this album previously on CD via the Ektro label. "Headspin Records presents the limited edition vinyl version of the Tulikoira album by Finnish front runners of the psychedelic, Kraut, space & trance-rock scene of today with a blasting heavy guitar-drenched album. Three tracks on side A and a 24-minute trippy journey on side B. A true psychedelic testimonial! Housed with printed inner sleeve in deluxe gatefold sleeve! The inside of the fold-out showing the initials of what the album is all about: N.W.O.F.H.M (New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal). The album comes with a 7" single (with picture sleeve) featuring two unreleased and exclusive tracks with Bruce Duff (45 Grave/Jesters Of Destiny/ ADZ) on vocals."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Tower (Featuring Verde)
Label:	LAST VISIBLE DOG RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	LVD 112CD

"It should surprise no one that this is yet another new sound for Circle, and I think one that most of us will happily welcome. Although still bearing the moniker 'New wave of Finnish heavy metal,' this one definitely bares more relationship to In a Silent Way than Aces High. No sign of vocals at all, just chilled-out grooves that still have Prospekt at their core (though perhaps their exterior is more like a heavily-sedated Soft Machine?) The line-up is the current core of Circle + Mika Rintala (Verde) so he is listed here as special guest super-star. Like everyone else, I've scratched my head a bit at all the new directions that Circle has tried in the past 5 years, but here I think they've really hit on something brilliant. I don't know a lot of people who would leap at picking up a new fusion album, but Circle has reinvented it in a way that no one other than Circle could pull off. What do we end up with then? A perfectly accessible album that still pulls off the insatiable/addictive pulse of Prospekt."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Earthworm
Label:	NO QUARTER
Format:	CD
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	NOQ 012CD

"Circle is a band whose sound is constantly evolving. That evolution continues with Earthworm, a four song EP released on the eve of their third US tour. Earthworm finds the band further integrating their love of late seventies/early eighties metal with the 'circular' Kraut-influenced psych that has become their trademark. The songs on Earthworm are heavy and dense with guitar riffs that shred, backed by the intense and hypnotic rhythm section of bassist Jussi Lehtisalo and drummer Tomi Leppanen. The band has invited Bruce Duff (singer of the legendary LA band Jesters of Destiny) to contribute vocals on three tracks."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Katapult
Label:	NO QUARTER
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	NOQ 015CD

"The members of Circle have been listening to a lot of '80s black metal lately (ie. Venom, Celtic Frost). As a result, the premier Kraut-influenced, psychedelic band have created their most dark and twisted record to date -- which, for those familiar with Circle, know is no small feat. Don't let the term 'black metal' scare you off -- Katapult is here to blow your mind, and as with all things Circle, nothing is cut and dry. The constants of their sound remain -- hard repetition, heavy riffs, trance inducing rhythms -- aided, on this recording, by an ominous, spooky and, dare we say, straight up evil vibe. Beginning with a primitive, almost clumsy sound, Katapult is an album flush with dynamics and cold, chilly ambience. Bassist and founding member Jussi Lehtisalo handles the majority of vocal duties with a growl that could strike fear in the heart of the most jaded music fan. Subtle changes start to occur and before you realize it, the primitiveness is replaced by grander orchestration, '70s synthesizers and haunted choruses. You could very well be listening to the greatest, long lost dark psychedelia record, or maybe the soundtrack to some never-released drug-drenched horror film. Either way, Katapult begins in a dungeon and ends in the cosmos. Try not to lose your mind along the way."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Sunrise
Label:	NO QUARTER
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	NOQ 016CD

"Originally released in 2002, Sunrise is perhaps the ultimate psychedelic, Kraut-metal record. Don't bother asking yourself how many 'psychedelic, Kraut-metal' records actually exist, rather just enjoy the mind-melting riffs and trance-inducing rhythms nicely complimented by Mika R�tt�'s exotic, Rob Halford-ian vocals (sung in his native Finnish). Circle's songs are built around cold, hard, repetition and while Sunrise is an album as diverse as the group's influences, the recurring theme throughout remains their trademark 'circular' sound. Whether in the ferocious album-opener, 'Nopeuskunigas,' which bursts out of the gate at breakneck speed and only gains momentum as it progresses, or in the quarter-of-an-hour finale, 'Lokki,' a vast and expansive exercise in minimalism, Circle continue to find ways to expand their horizons. Previously available only as a Finnish import (out of print for a few years now), Sunrise is absolutely one of their finest moments."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Raunio
Label:	SQUEALER
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SQLR 1004CD

"Circle's soundfield encompasses skewed progressive-rock rhythms, distorted guitar firepower, gleaming minimalism, Kraut-influenced phrase repetition, and hymnal incantations written in a made-up language called Meronian. Raunio is a U.S. reissue of a recording released late last year on the Finnish label Ektro, which is run by bassist Lehtisalo. It presents all the elements that make them such a fantastic live band: their frantic live sets have garnered ample international praise while masterfully exploring the outer limits of grinding tension and celestial calm."

Artist:	CIRCLE
Title:	Andexelt
Label:	TUMULT
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TUMULT 013CD

"Finally back in print!! America's original introduction to the masters of Finnish hypno-rock, Circle! Originally released on Finnish weird-prog label Metamorphos, Andexelt was the first Circle release widely available outside of Finland, released in the states on tUMULt in 2000. Out of print for years Andexelt is now available again. Nine tracks of droning, hypnotic neo-Kraut rock from one of our absolute all-time favorite bands. Finland's Circle are the northernmost heirs to the Krautrock tradition, taking basic riffs, stretching and reshaping them, creating bleak, ever-shifting underwater grooves and dizzyingly repetitive rhythms, sounding like an otherworldly This Heat or a more damaged Can. A mesmerizing wall of sound delivered with the sheer force of Loop or Godflesh, but with dark precision and melodic restraint. Mellow, delicate, jazzy passages intersect with crushing Bonham-esque beats. Fans of Salvatore and Tortoise and Mogwai and Trans Am and all other practitioners of epic bombastic hypno-rock or hypnotic math rock should definitely check this Finnish combo's ability to out-post most post-rock bands and out-space most spacerock bands. Includes a bonus 10-minute track and a kick ass secret track not on the original Metamorphos version."

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