Chicago post-metal band Russian Circles played a show in the Parish room at the New Orleans House of Blues this past Monday night. The show featured opening bands Inter Arma, a sludge metal act from Richmond, Virginia, and KEN Mode, a noise rock band from Winnipeg, Canada. I was not familiar with either before the show, but they managed to make a fan out of me by the end of the night.
I could tell that Inter Arma had already started playing when I picked up my tickets at the box office. From there I could also tell that my friend was correct about their sounding like YOB or Mouth of the Architect with some black metal influences. We followed the rumble up the stairs and into The Parish where a small crowd of metalheads had already gathered. Inter Arma had evidently discovered that same potent combination of downtuned guitars and harsh vocals utilized by so many bands that had come before them. They certainly weren’t reinventing the wheel, but then again, they didn’t need to. Their riffs were heavy, and their vocals were brutal enough to strike fear into the hearts of small children.
KEN Mode was up next, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. It didn’t take me long to figure out that these three guys had serious hardcore punk attitude. Guitarist Jesse Matthewson yelled into the mic with a crazed look on his face, while bassist Andrew LaCour threw his instrument and stomped around in a frenzy. Even though the vocals were buried in the mix, their expressions made it clear that the lyrics were seething with scorn and spite.
When it came time for Russian Circles to take the stage, they began with dim lights and ambient drones. Guitarist Mike Sullivan introduced himself with a few clean, sparse notes on his Les Paul Custom before launching into the meat of “309” at drummer Dave Turncrantz’s signal. Bassist and noise-maker Brian Cook joined in shortly thereafter, filling the space in the bottom register that his bandmates had left open with growl and thump. The group produces an astonishing amount of sound for a mere three piece.
They went on to play a virtually flawless two hour set incorporating old material like “Carpe” as well as new songs like “Burial”. Their polished performance was especially impressive in light of its technical elements. The looping and layering that characterize Russian Circles’ compositions are difficult to pull off in a live setting, where one ill-timed guitar loop has the potential to throw off the whole band’s groove. In addition, both Cook and Sullivan rely on a large number of effects pedals that keep them tap dancing through the duration of their set. 
Judging by their stage presence, it’s clear that the members of Russian Circles take what they do seriously. They played the whole show without saying a word to the audience, opting to connect through their instruments rather than their voices. In fact, the closest they came to traditional communication was when Sullivan used his foot to tap a woman in the front row that had rudely turned her back toward the stage.
After the show was over, I left with a copy of Brian Cook’s novel, a Russian Circles t-shirt, a free Inter Arma CD, and of course, a pair of ringing ears. In my mind, I came out smelling like a rose, which I can only partially attribute to the venue’s anti-smoking policy.