Post by Deleted on May 17, 2016 16:24:59 GMT -6
Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust (Remastered, Deluxe Edition)
Year: 2016
Genre: Industrial Rock
I became a fan of Circle of Dust a few months ago when I purchased all three of their albums. I fell in love with the self-titled the most, despite it being softer and less metal-influenced than Brainchild. I liked the album enough to buy both the 1992 and 1995 versions, which had a few differences in the tracklist and in production. I thought it was cool when I heard just a couple months later that the album was completely remastered with modern, high production value, but I didn't immediately check it out, as I thought it would be unnecessary to buy a third version of the album. But once I got curious enough to go stream it on Bandcamp, I became hooked. The new production is absolutely fantastic. You can hear everything perfectly, everything that Klayton wanted you to hear. The deluxe edition introduces a few new tracks, a remix, and the "Dust" tracks, which are all industrial instrumental pieces that I'll get to later.
As for the main album, it's great. It doesn't evoke the same nostalgia for me that it might for other people who started listening back in the '90s, but it still sounds great to me. The new "Exploration (Redux)" is awesome, and reminds me a lot of the old 1992 track. I had always wished that it had been included on the '95 version, but "Onenemy" (which is still a great song) was there in its place. "Onenemy" is also included in the new remastered version, and it sounds great. The production is super crisp and clear, and it helps accomplish the fantastic, futuristic atmosphere created by all the industrial noises.
I might as well give an actual description of this, as there's no way that everyone reading this has already heard the original or '95 version. Circle of Dust is an industrial rock album with significant focus on the guitar, featuring some awesome riffs. It's metal-influenced to the point that some people might call it metal, but I don't. It features mostly mid-paced, sometimes catchy songs. The nice, thick guitar sound in this version is awesome. There are a lot of synths and industrial ambience that create an incredible atmosphere. Vocally, the album is amazing. The vocals are mostly singing, sometimes with a harsh, distorted tone, and sometimes with a soft tone. There are occasional spoken vocals that are best considered a part of the ambience. The ones in "Exploration (Redux)" create a feeling of being inside a space exploration center during a launch. Occasionally, particularly in "Dissolved", there are some soft, growling vocals. The drumming is fairly basic, but that makes sense, as the industrial ambience also has a certain percussive nature to it. The whole album is simply well-crafted and awesome industrial rock. This is a genre that I'm not really into, but I still love this album.
The extra content that comes with the deluxe edition is worth the increased price in my opinion. The new track, "Neophyte", is awesome, and hopefully the new Circle of Dust album that's coming relatively soon will sound like it. The Blue Stahli remix of "Nothing Sacred" (which happens to be my favorite Circle of Dust song) is fantastic, and features a faster, more electronic take on the song. Also included is "Onenemy (Acoustic)", which is even better. I like the original "Onenemy" a lot, and one thing that's interesting about that song is its inclusion of an acoustic guitar in the background for part of it. A fully acoustic version of a Circle of Dust song might sound weird in concept, but Klayton pulled it off so well. The song is beautifully somber and creates an atmosphere and emotions more powerful than any other acoustic composition I've ever heard. "Exploration (1992)" is a remastered version of the original version of "Exploration". It's cool to have it, as it was one of my favorite tracks and it was sadly missing in the '95 version. Having two versions of "Exploration" (the redux and the original) is awesome for people like me who loved that song. Having the '90 demo version of "Demoralize" is cool, but it's not very enjoyable, as the production is quite bad (which is to be expected, considering it's a demo) compared to the remastered version. It's a neat look into the past, though.
The "Dust" tracks (the first three of which are demos from back in '88 and '89) are, as I mentioned before, instrumental industrial pieces. They create a nice, intense atmosphere that's fun to listen to. But as a whole, they aren't as good as the main album. For big Circle of Dust fans, they're a fun listen. There are more "Dust" tracks on the remastered edition of Brainchild, and I can only assume that there will be more on the remaster of Disengage. At the very end of the album are the instrumental versions of the Blue Stahli remix of "Nothing Sacred" and "Onenemy (Acoustic)". I like the vocals on both of those songs so much that I don't really see a reason to listen to the instrumental versions, but I guess they're cool to have.
I've been listening to this a lot ever since I got it. I highly recommend it, even if industrial rock and metal aren't usually your thing.
95/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from FiXT:
fixtstore.com/products/circle-of-dust-circle-of-dust-remastered-deluxe-edition-digital-album
Buy/stream it on Bandcamp:
circleofdust.bandcamp.com/album/circle-of-dust-remastered-deluxe-edition
Year: 2016
Genre: Industrial Rock
I became a fan of Circle of Dust a few months ago when I purchased all three of their albums. I fell in love with the self-titled the most, despite it being softer and less metal-influenced than Brainchild. I liked the album enough to buy both the 1992 and 1995 versions, which had a few differences in the tracklist and in production. I thought it was cool when I heard just a couple months later that the album was completely remastered with modern, high production value, but I didn't immediately check it out, as I thought it would be unnecessary to buy a third version of the album. But once I got curious enough to go stream it on Bandcamp, I became hooked. The new production is absolutely fantastic. You can hear everything perfectly, everything that Klayton wanted you to hear. The deluxe edition introduces a few new tracks, a remix, and the "Dust" tracks, which are all industrial instrumental pieces that I'll get to later.
As for the main album, it's great. It doesn't evoke the same nostalgia for me that it might for other people who started listening back in the '90s, but it still sounds great to me. The new "Exploration (Redux)" is awesome, and reminds me a lot of the old 1992 track. I had always wished that it had been included on the '95 version, but "Onenemy" (which is still a great song) was there in its place. "Onenemy" is also included in the new remastered version, and it sounds great. The production is super crisp and clear, and it helps accomplish the fantastic, futuristic atmosphere created by all the industrial noises.
I might as well give an actual description of this, as there's no way that everyone reading this has already heard the original or '95 version. Circle of Dust is an industrial rock album with significant focus on the guitar, featuring some awesome riffs. It's metal-influenced to the point that some people might call it metal, but I don't. It features mostly mid-paced, sometimes catchy songs. The nice, thick guitar sound in this version is awesome. There are a lot of synths and industrial ambience that create an incredible atmosphere. Vocally, the album is amazing. The vocals are mostly singing, sometimes with a harsh, distorted tone, and sometimes with a soft tone. There are occasional spoken vocals that are best considered a part of the ambience. The ones in "Exploration (Redux)" create a feeling of being inside a space exploration center during a launch. Occasionally, particularly in "Dissolved", there are some soft, growling vocals. The drumming is fairly basic, but that makes sense, as the industrial ambience also has a certain percussive nature to it. The whole album is simply well-crafted and awesome industrial rock. This is a genre that I'm not really into, but I still love this album.
The extra content that comes with the deluxe edition is worth the increased price in my opinion. The new track, "Neophyte", is awesome, and hopefully the new Circle of Dust album that's coming relatively soon will sound like it. The Blue Stahli remix of "Nothing Sacred" (which happens to be my favorite Circle of Dust song) is fantastic, and features a faster, more electronic take on the song. Also included is "Onenemy (Acoustic)", which is even better. I like the original "Onenemy" a lot, and one thing that's interesting about that song is its inclusion of an acoustic guitar in the background for part of it. A fully acoustic version of a Circle of Dust song might sound weird in concept, but Klayton pulled it off so well. The song is beautifully somber and creates an atmosphere and emotions more powerful than any other acoustic composition I've ever heard. "Exploration (1992)" is a remastered version of the original version of "Exploration". It's cool to have it, as it was one of my favorite tracks and it was sadly missing in the '95 version. Having two versions of "Exploration" (the redux and the original) is awesome for people like me who loved that song. Having the '90 demo version of "Demoralize" is cool, but it's not very enjoyable, as the production is quite bad (which is to be expected, considering it's a demo) compared to the remastered version. It's a neat look into the past, though.
The "Dust" tracks (the first three of which are demos from back in '88 and '89) are, as I mentioned before, instrumental industrial pieces. They create a nice, intense atmosphere that's fun to listen to. But as a whole, they aren't as good as the main album. For big Circle of Dust fans, they're a fun listen. There are more "Dust" tracks on the remastered edition of Brainchild, and I can only assume that there will be more on the remaster of Disengage. At the very end of the album are the instrumental versions of the Blue Stahli remix of "Nothing Sacred" and "Onenemy (Acoustic)". I like the vocals on both of those songs so much that I don't really see a reason to listen to the instrumental versions, but I guess they're cool to have.
I've been listening to this a lot ever since I got it. I highly recommend it, even if industrial rock and metal aren't usually your thing.
95/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from FiXT:
fixtstore.com/products/circle-of-dust-circle-of-dust-remastered-deluxe-edition-digital-album
Buy/stream it on Bandcamp:
circleofdust.bandcamp.com/album/circle-of-dust-remastered-deluxe-edition