Russian Circles – Geneva
Chicago instrumental rock strikes yet again with their newest release, Geneva. What seperates Geneva from their other albums? Sadly, not much… but much like Bazan’s last release, Russian Circles provides a consistancy that is rest-assured for the instrumental-rock scene.
This album picks up where Station left off, and bears many similarities to that album. Unlike their freshman release, Enter, both this new album and their sophomore release had more of a conceptual vibe to the album. Enter provided us with a set of songs that were very good but had no link throughout each song. Station dwelled more in the area of linking all the songs with a common musical thread. Geneva seems to do what Station has done, with this musical threading of songs, but with the original intensity that came with Enter. It’s back to basics, and with these guys that means more metal and less fancy-dancy noises.
A newcomer to this album is the introduction of other instruments. As a three-piece, Russian Circles have held their own using only guitar, bass, and drums. Station introduced some very light synth. Geneva introduces violins into the mix along with samples of other media, much to the likings of From Monuments to Masses or The Books.
Overall, this album hits on many good strides that Russian Circles should be expected to be making. However, that plays into the predictability of this album, which does pose a “boring” factor on the album at times. The introduction of new instruments definitely countered the boring predictability somewhat. Overall, good. And in my opinion, their best album.





