This is a live recording of Circle, a Finnish (from Finland!) psych/prog/goth Kosmische musik group that specialize in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

I mean, Rock. They’ve been releasing albums for the last ten years in Europe, but are only just now starting to crack open Western consciousness. The language of their lyrics is Meronian, a dialect completely invented by the bass player, Jussi Lehtisalo, who is also the leader of the band as well as the owner of the label on which Circle release a large portion of their music.

Raunio, their first album to be distributed in America, is Circle’s version of a live album. They must have dipped these tapes in a magical broth, though, because the songs are absolutely dripping with foreboding atmosphere. I’ve been looking over my shoulder for Daemons while listening to it. The album starts with the first in a series of four vocal-only chant tracks that break up the full band rockers and are titled, appropriately, Raunio I-IV. I guess that these tracks are the exposition in the horrifying story that Circle are relating to the audience. I can’t be sure, though, since it is all in a made up language, but the guttural bellowing and piercing shrieking hint that all is not well in the Meronian kingdom. Tracks like Alotus and Kultaa bring on the martial drum beats and steady bass pummeling in a satisfyingly tight-knit krautrock style, but with an appreciated extra touch of horror. Things start to get decidedly more unhinged with Lokki, an eleven minute pounder that makes me feel like I am being chased by Orcs. Potto, at 13 minutes the longest track on here, takes the post-production technique that’s been dabbled with all over the album, to an extreme. This song is absolutely drenched in feedback and fuzz, it’s hard to tell what sounds originated in the live concert setting and what sounds were later added in the process of cutting the album. It’s disorienting effect is impressive, but will surely turn off those who aren’t interested in inner-space explorations.

Raubonmix, the bonus track for we lucky Americans, ties everything together in what sounds something like an ambient collage of the entire concert. It’s swelling feedback and layered drum sounds mingle with delay and phasing into a siren song of oblivion, beckoning all those adventurous souls to dig deeper into Circle’s back catalogue to discover what their studio shit might sound like. Very heavy, very progressive, and very, very good.

- Trip Maker