Circle - Friday 8th July @ The Cube Mircoplex, Bristol

Great Guitar work from Anton Maiof (My Ambulance Is On Fire)

First up - One man, one guitar and a box of electronic trickery bathed in the ambient red glow. Bent over his guitar slow dark riffs were captured and re-shaped into rhythms with new sounds being created then overlaid, a compliment of effects pedals guaranteeing extra interest. The sound had roots in both doom metal and in the later part of the performance plenty of tasty fripp-o-tronic finger work. The speakers rippled in overload then in true isolationist form he just left the stage, his equipment continuing to play out to gradual fade out - he returned a while later to kill the transmission - I'd love to find out who he was (any ideas anyone?)

Postscript : Thanks Mantis Geisha for the information (see comments)



Big Naturals - a serene picture but awesome sound.

Next up were the Big Naturals, who stoked up a real cacophony of sound that was blissfully sludgy, filled with lashings of distortion, screaming vocals and a punishing drumbeat. Projections of 70's information / safety films gave a strange counterpoint to the proceedings - also a bit of a nostalgic trip down memory lane for an old duffer like me. The keyboardist/vocalist gave a spirited guitar wipe-out, carving awesome shapes into an already rich sound you could really get lost in.


Circle - shifting sound and images

I was looking forward to the headliner – Circle and I wasn’t disappointed. To a great melodic base they added lots of extra ingredients. The sound shifted organically as the heady cocktail sped forward sometimes exploding without warning, all the songs seamlessly knitted together.

The musicians fed off their creation in trance like sways, while feeding the beast, infact the guitarist obliviously knocked the microphones over a couple of times in attempt to coax more from his instrument. When the lead vocals came in things began to really heat up, the otherworldly dialect of Finnish blending into or soaring across the music - slow chant to Shamanic yells – the bassist complimented the vocals with a Nordic baritone - this music lived up to all the hype. The psychedelic screen splintered in spectacular colour throughout, shapes morphed with obscene life like silk over a bowl of writhing maggots.

The musicians left the stage in the embers of a massive onslaught of sound - yells of appreciation filled the crowded theatre, and screams of more drove Circle back to the stage, where they delivered a rhythmic monster of a vibe that over time mutated into a double drum kit solo with Finnish chatter. The guitarist, frustrated by his instruments inactivity/malfunction moved to the keyboards, grasped for a rhythmic hook but failed to hold together anything solid and the band called it quits , probably worn out by the epic they had unleashed. They left the stage in thunderous applause and I was overcome by the need to purchase some of Circle's magick.