The way anniversaries are typically celebrated in the music world tends to be arbitrary. Although these usually come up in neat multiples of five—the tenth anniversary, 25th, 50th, and so on—the fanfare is regularly thrown without any concern for whether or not the time that has elapsed, however neat a number it may be, actually holds any meaning for a particular artist’s career. Come the start of each calendar year, publications across the web and globe ready their lists of album anniversaries for a regular glut of thinkpieces—whether or not the albums in these albums are actually worth the retrospective is up for debate. So when the Chicago-based post-metal trio Russian Circles kicked off 2015 with a tenth anniversary tour, there was only one obvious question: are the past ten years meaningfully significant for this band? 

After their final United States tenth anniversary show, a homecoming event held at the North Chicago rock venue Metro, Russian Circles confirmed what their five studio albums in their ten years as a group had already made obvious: yes, this is an anniversary well worth celebrating. Based on the amount of moving bodies and battered eardrums that left Metro just after midnight, much celebration was certainly had.

The final show of the 10th Anniversary ones will take place in Chicago on January 30th at the Metro. Special guests on the bill are Wovenhand and Taiga, the solo project of Bryant Clifford Meyers (Isis, Red Sparowes, Palms) The show is already close to selling out so make sure to get tickets HERE

**EUROPE** don’t miss seeing both bands Russian Circles and Wovenhand on their own headlining Spring tours which includes them playing together again at Roadburn Festival on April 9th.

See ALL Russian Circles w/ Helms Alee EU Tour Dates HERE

Chicago instrumental outfit Russian Circles spent much of the final month of 2014 celebrating their 10th anniversary on the road, with a series of East Coast shows accompanied by the Converge/Cave In-affiliated trio Mutoid Man. While their recorded output is worthy in its own right, Russian Circles have long shined brightest as a live act, and a run of packed club shows felt like the perfect way for them to mark a decade together. The two trios brought their disparate-yet-complimentary live acts to Cambridge’s The Sinclair on December 10, 2014.

The founding members of Russian Circles, guitarist Mike Sullivan and drummer Dave Turncrantz, have been playing with bassist Brian Cook since 2007, and it comes as no surprise that the trio are by now a tight and cohesive unit. By way of pedal arrays and massive tones, Sullivan and Cook have no trouble sounding like more than the sum of their parts. Backed by Turncrantz’s consistently on-point percussion, they do more with a single bass and guitar than many other bands are capable of in a live setting. Each song of a career-spanning 10-track set-list sounded appropriately epic, deftly navigating from hushed interludes to headbanging climaxes and back again while keeping a sold-out audience totally spellbound.

Russian Circles also know the tricks of using atmosphere to deliver a properly memorable gig. The band travels with their own back-lighting rig, which illuminates them in dramatic shadows and silhouettes, foregoing the house lights until a particularly stirring passage demands an extra burst. The three men say nothing on stage and rarely glance at the audience, which might feel dull or disengaged were their attention to detail and mood, both sonically and visually, not so readily apparent.

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Russian Circles will play their last show of 2014 in Denver, CO on December 27th at the Gothic Theater. They have also added some more Tenth Anniversary shows on the West Coast and Pacific Northwest with Mamiffer joining them for those. Finally on January 30th they will play their hometown of Chicago at the Metro with special guests to be announced - tickets for all shows are now on sale at links below.

Also just announced are the Spring 2015 EU/UK Tour dates with Helms Alee joining them for all including Roadburn Festival.

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See full show review with more photos by Jess Rechsteiner at New Noise Magazine here

…As Mutoid Man was wrapping up and leaving the stage the crowd was filled with excitement for Russian Circles to do what they do best. As I mentioned earlier, this was not the first time I had seen Russian Circles, and I knew going into it that I most likely would not be disappointed.

The room was dark, and there was a quiet drone coming from guitarist Mike Sullivan’s amp setting the mood before they came out to play. We were all eagerly wondering what songs they would play while we had those we were hoping to hear in our minds. They played a set filled with diversity between albums, which was more than anyone could have asked for. At least one song from each of their five records was presented. Everything about them was flawless. Some of my favorites were their older songs off the album Enter. The most outstanding track they performed in my eyes was a song titled “1777” off of their latest album, Memorial. There was something about that song that captured me into a trance that I hadn’t felt at a show in a long time. Russian Circles opened my eyes and ears to some things about their style that I never noticed before. Being up front the whole time and fully attentive, I was able to pick apart their riffs, and hear what influenced them. They have gone from being a really good post-metal band, to a band that explores both the heavy and ambient parts of their songs with riffs influenced by other genres, such as black metal. Every time I watch them play, I experience various feelings of depression, beauty, and darkness. Russian Circles also proved yet again just how good they were as players. While they each have their expertise individually, together they were like an unstoppable force of pleasantry to the human ear. Sullivan showed just how easy it looks to play guitar and made it look effortless. Drummer, Dave Turncrantz used his unique hard style of drumming to lead the band into their gaze. Brian Cook, who is always interesting to watch, played like an inhuman machine. Everything looked mechanical and effortless on his end, which is very inspiring to any fellow musician.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Russian Circles never disappoints with their live performance, and I’m not sure they ever will.

Russian Circles have added two more shows on their East Coast run with Mutoid Man the new band from Steve Brodsky (Cave-In) and Ben Koller (Converge) joining them on all five of the east coasters.  West Coast & PNW dates will be announced soon and will take place in January. See dates below
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Russian Circles have just been announced to play the 20th Anniversary of Roadburn Festival on April 9, 2015 in Tilburg, Netherlands. A full headlining EU Tour will be announced soon for the entire month of April, joining them on all shows will be Helms Alee.  

See Full Roadburn Lineup Here

And Make sure to TRACK Russian Circles so you can get alerts for your city when shows are announced HERE.

Post-metallers Russian Circles are going out on a short tour with their Cave In/Converge-related label mates Mutoid Man this December. The Sargent House acts are playing shows in Cambridge, Philly and a Brooklyn stop on December 11 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for all North East shows go on sale this Friday (10/17) at noon. The currently announced tour schedule is below.

Look forward to new tracks from Mutoid Man at these shows, they’ve got a new LP lined up for release next year. In case you missed it when it originally dropped, the band’s stellar 2013 debut, Helium Head was just reissued through Sargent House. Russian Circles’ last release was 2013’s killer Memorial, and they’re reissuing their 2006 debut Enter on November 25 (pre-order) and in stores in Mid December.

All Russian Circles Dates & Details HERE

Russian Circles & Mutoid Man- 2014
12/10 - The Sinclair - Cambridge, MA (Tix)
12/11 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY (Tix)
12/12 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA (Tix)

RC w/ support TBA
12/27 - Gothic Theatre - Englewood, CO
tickets on sale 10/24 

Russian Circles headlining Canadian tour starts on September 13th with The Atlas Moth as support on all shows. They will also play two US festivals at the end of the run, the first in Minneapolis on Sept 26th at The Downtown Festival with Deafheaven, then ending in Dallas, TX where they will play Index Festival with Palms on 9/28.

SEE ALL RUSSIAN CIRCLES DATES, DETAILS HERE

RUSSIAN CIRCLES LIVE 2014
09/13  London, ON @ Rum Runner Room (London Music Hall) #
09/14  Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Mile End #
09/15  Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
09/18  Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid #
09/20  Calgary, AB @ Palomino #
09/22  Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Stop #
09/24  Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop #
09/26  Minneapolis, MN @ Downtown Festival @ Skyway Theater **
09/ 27- 28  Dallas, TX @ Index Festival ^^

# w/ The Atlas Moth
** w/ Deafheaven,The Atlas Moth & False
^^ w/ Palms, Senses Fail, Joyce Manor, Zorch

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Russian Circles have just announced a headlining Canadian tour  beginning in September with The Atlas Moth as support on all shows as well as two festival plays at the end of the run in the USA, at The Downtown Festival in  Minneapolis then at Index Festival in Dallas. Prior to all this the trio will play a free hometown show in Chicago at Millennium Park on August 11th as part of the Downtown Sound New Music Monday Series starting at 6pm. Russian Circles will also headline the ArcTangent Festival in Bristol, UK and the Sargent House Label Show in Dublin, Ireland in August.

SEE ALL RUSSIAN CIRCLES DATES, DETAILS HERE

RUSSIAN CIRCLES LIVE 2014
08/11  Chicago, IL @ Millennium Park / Pritzker Pavilion - FREE 6:30pm
08/27  Dublin, IE @ Sargent House Label Show @ Button Factory
08/29  Bristol, UK @ ArcTangent Festival
09/13  London, ON @ Rum Runner Room (London Music Hall) #
09/14  Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Mile End #
09/15  Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
09/18  Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid #
09/20  Calgary, AB @ Palomino #
09/22  Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Stop #
09/24  Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop #
09/26  Minneapolis, MN @ Downtown Festival @ Skyway Theater ** #
09/ 27- 28  Dallas, TX @ Index Festival
 
** w/ Deafheaven
# w/ The Atlas Moth