Emma Ruth Rundle on Top 50 Albums & Tracks // mxdwn
Top 50 Best Albums of 2018
7. Emma Ruth Rundle – On Dark Horses
Operating in a genre of metal-influenced folk rock that has suddenly become very busy, Emma Ruth Rundle shows why she is among the best in the category. From her standout single “The Light Song,” which features her partner and hardcore icon Evan Patterson on guest vocals to the excellent “Fever Dreams,” her album On Dark Horses makes for one of the most intriguing listens of 2018. Like her peers in Chelsea Wolfe and Myrkur, Rundle is able to blend the bleakness of heavy metal with beautiful folk music for a sound that’s altogether unique. – Matt Matasci
Top 50 Best Songs of 2018
6. Emma Ruth Rundle – “Light Song”
Emma Ruth Rundle has been making her own impressions within this growing realm of broodingly dark folk metal for years now, but her 2018 release On Dark Horses is one for the considerably moody books. Rundle has had a lot of transitions in her life recently — an incredibly serious relationship with Evan Patterson (who appears on this track) and a big relocation because of that incredibly serious relationship — that have taken her out of her usual West Coast environment and thrown her into the arms of transplanted creativity. Now calling Louisville, Kentucky home, Rundle’s experience acclimating to her new surroundings were a large part of her new album and particularly “Light Song,” whose lyrics and accompanying music video are almost like an emotional roadmap to her development of comfort and ease. Rundle has always been one for embedding personal narratives into her lyrics and with just a few listens to “Light Song,” it’s very easy as the listener to get swept up her introduction to her home and new self. – Cervante Pope
Russian Circles & King Woman Live Review at Echoplex, Los Angeles // MXDWN
Full review by Matt Matasci via MXDWN
When it comes to instrumental metal, there are few peers to Russian Circles. To perform music within this genre is to be teetering on the edge of tediousness. There is beauty to be found in groups like the Chicago trio and their ability to hold listeners’ attention not just over the course of a full-length album, but an entire hour and a half headlining live set. Russian Circles’ set at Echoplex, with the large club filled with a mix of indie-leaning hipsters and metalheads, was proof positive of their skills. Through 10 songs and well over an hour on stage, they alternately pummeled and dazzled with their hypnotic, churning, pounding post-metal.
Opening the set was tourmates King Woman, the project of Kristina Esfandiari. Their sound aligned well with what the headlining act would be presenting, offering a dark, doomy, altogether unique take on alternative metal. Partially because of her visual aesthetic and partially because of her affiliation with Sargent House, King Woman call to mind a heavier, riffier Chelsea Wolfe. Esfandiari sings over the doomgaze instrumentals in a deep, passionate baritone. Every emotion could be felt through each note she sang, as she writhed around the stage. Highlights of their set included “Shame” and the enthralling “King of Swords.”
After a quick break, Russian Circles wordlessly took the stage. Considering nobody was mic’d up for vocals, the band kept the on-stage banter to an extreme minimum. They opened with the title track of their sophomore album, “Station,” One of the more lengthy songs in their discography, it alternated between a menacing riff that chugged with the zeal of a hardcore band. Though there was a moment of twinkling respite during “Station,” it wasn’t long before guitarist Mike Sullivan was back to shredding away.
The band continued to bounce around their discography, never playing a song from the same album twice until “Vorel” and “Mota” from their latest, Guidance, were played back-to-back. Every LP in their discography besides their debut was represented during the performance, making it an excellent sampler for the uninitiated to Russian Circles.
The second song of the set, “Geneva,” was the title track of their third album, beginning with a more melodic introduction before erupting into a cascading wall of sound, pounding the eardrums of everyone in the spacious Echoplex. With only three members, the band made the most of what they had to create such a massive sound. They have a hardcore/metal icon in bassist Brian Cook (Botch, These Arms Are Snakes) who led the way on several of the songs as Sullivan’s guitar was layering sound on the higher end of the register.
Russian Circles are a band in their prime, as the standout songs of the set were certainly when they touched upon Guidance. Between “Vorel” and “Mota,” the trio (which also features founding member and drummer Dave Turncrantz) offered the audience over 10 minutes of proof that they seem to have perfected their sound. Seeing these three superb musicians weave a fascinating tapestry of heavy and beautiful sounds over such a lengthy period of time without losing interest is something that any metal lover should witness.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat // Full article via MXDWN
Oya Festival, one of Norway’s biggest annual music festivals, is ready to take place again August 7th-11th, 2018 in Toyen Park, Oslo. Previously held at Medieval Park, Oya is a four-day festival that has taken place every year in Norway since 1999, with previous headliners such as Beck, Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, Arctic Monkeys, and Morrissey. The festival is also known as one of the greenest festivals in the world, heralded as the best in sustainable practices and recycling standards. A whole section of the festival’s website deals with info regarding waste and organic food.
The lineup for 2018 has been released periodically with some of the major headliners announced already. With tickets already on sale, the lineup thus far includes: Arcade Fire, Lykke Li, Chelsea Wolfe, Patti Smith, Grizzly Bear, Sleaford Mods, Noname, Wolf Alice, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Converge and J Hus, with preceding shows all around clubs in Oslo from Paradise, Brockhampton, Noname, Dig Deeper, Fieh, Tones, Sassy 009, Smerz, Store P and Superorganism.
There are even more artists to be announced come January via the festival’s website, but you can buy tickets and read more about the festival on their website here.
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On their sixth studio album, Russian Circles continue on the same path they started down on 2013’s Memorial, easily their most expansive record, matching serene pieces like “Asa” with the molten fury of “Afrika” and lead single “Vorel.” Kurt Ballou of Converge, who moonlights as one of contemporary metal’s most accomplished producers, imbues the record with a riveting weight unheard on any of the band’s previous work. The result is the most dynamic LP of Russian Circles’ career, a riveting album that catches one of America’s finest metal bands at the peak of its powers.
For over a decade, Russian Circles carved out a respectable place within the once-crowded post-metal scene. While most of their peers stubbornly drew water from the same well again and again as the sub-genre faded from relevance, the Seattle band has released its best work to date. Equal parts aggressive, hypnotic, intriguing and beautiful, Guidance will stand as one of the seminal releases in the experimental-metal pantheon.
– Matt Matasci
The album flows together almost flawlessly like some rumination on one long and complex matrix of unspeakable things. This isn’t so much an exploration of loud vs quiet as a conversation between light and dark, pulse and peace, the delicacy that tempers rage; the one amplifying the other and creating the most bittersweet and inspiring offspring.
#3 - The three years since 2013's Memorial mark the band's record for longest absence between albums but Guidance upon its arrival proved that it was absolutely worth the wait. Once again Russian Circles balance expertly between calmness and loudness, providing their signature dramatic outbursts, toying with opposite emotions and delivering everything on point, with the help of co-producer Kurt Ballou who proficiently captures the band's complex sentimentality.
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