Persistance Of Memory

There's not too many more dynamic and endearing bands in heavy music than Russian Circles. Since 2004 they have carved out a niche that, while comparable to contemporaries like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Do Make Say Think, has maintained a unique and satisfying trajectory. Their latest album, last year's Memorial, is aptly named. It sounds like the culmination of everything the three-piece have been trying to do over the course of a decade, while still telling you that there's no end to the melodically brutal sound in sight.

“I'm glad that people like it,” Brian Cook says. “I mean, it's our fifth album. I think in a way it's really weird, I feel like time's gone by really quickly. I feel like we are still figuring things out. It's like we are a new band even though it's been almost ten years. In some ways it's kind of strange but you know we're an established act. I still feel like things are pretty fresh and new for us. When I think of bands that have put out five albums I feel like that's way later stuff, like a fifth Sonic Youth album or something that's well into their career. I still feel like we're a young band, which is weird. I feel like things are definitely improving. I mean, I look at a band like the Melvins or on a larger scale Pearl Jam and, you know, not everything's on a constantly upward trajectory. At some point they put out a record and long-time fans go, 'Why did they do this?' Every time we put out a record I'm kind of bracing myself for that, but so far that hasn't happened. That's something I'm always grateful for.”

For fans, the release of any Russian Circles album is a big deal. Cook, along with Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz, have had the advantage of that still youthful presence to fuel an album every two or so years, meaning that there's little time between touring and recording. There's no doubt that the internet has quickened the pace for fans to hear new material, but Cook – an enigmatic record fan – is careful to not make the argument that digital is now the only way to go for releases. “In some ways it's nice because it does kind of suck to put out a record and have to wait to get feedback on it,” he explains. “That's a bit of a drag, because by the time the record comes out it feels like old news. But you know, the flip side of that is internet feedback in general isn't something that I'm too concerned with. On the internet everyone's allowed to have an opinion, but there can be too much opinion. It's like, spend some time with the record, formulate an opinion on it. Don't just listen to SoundCloud and fire off about it. Absorb it before you immediately write something off. I'm still kind of an old dude who likes cleaning a record and that stuff. I like having the vinyl in your hands.  It's nice hearing all the digital stuff come out, there is some pay-out with that, but the release date is still the big one for me. I'm still in the record store every Friday. And that's what I've always wanted with our music. I've wanted people to make a connection to it. You know, they can have whatever idea about the music, everyone has their own opinion. But I at least want them to have a proper opinion.”

Russian Circles have been famously open-minded about what people take from their music, be that through not labelling it one genre or another, or stating in interviews that there's no strict message to any one song. Part of this idea comes from the trio's writing process, which comes not from a standard set of ideas, but from a fluid movement of feelings and instincts that grows through playing music. Cook is quick, once again, to denounce any concrete idea behind Memorial. “There wasn't especially too much of one thing,” he says. “Musically, I guess I was really personally obsessed with Genesis, The Lamb [Lies Down On Broadway], like a pretty prog record. Then, like, metal... It's a weird one that people reference; there's definitely an element of black metal stuff in our musical background, but I always get really hesitant to cite that as an influence. I like a lot of that stuff because I think it pushes a lot of boundaries in terms of having super atonal and really interesting new textures for metal. That sort of aesthetic is cool for those bands, but not something we want to embrace. I guess we'd rather take those elements on our own and push the boundaries in our own way.”