MUSIC RUSSIAN CIRCLES @ NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY

Words: Matt Young

If you’re unfamiliar with Russian Circles here’s what you need to know about the Chicagobased trio of Mike Sullivan, Dave Turncrantz and Brian Cook. They can be epically loud and deftly hushed. Their seven albums as a trio, eight overall prior to Cook joining, are as solid a body of heavy, instrumental music as you’re likely to find and have seen the band establish a near 20-year career. Musically they weave melodic riffs in amongst some of the doomiest sounding gothic sludge, taking listeners on a journey as they play out often grandiose tracks, like those on their latest album Gnosis where the spiritual undercurrent and layered cinematics uneasily gives up its internal lore. Critics and fans alike have often found it difficult to classify Russian Circles’ sound or atypical approach to metal, and that’s exactly what makes them interesting. It’s hard to find a jumping off point sometimes when bereft of lyrics, yet the band’s meticulous attention to atmosphere and ability to have audiences conjure up their own visuals is what makes fans devout and suitably mesmerised. From their first release to the most recent they’ve matured and transformed into a thunderous synergy felt by everyone within earshot. So, guarantee you’re in that select group when they arrive at Newcastle Uni on Tuesday 15th August.

Russian Circles and Wiegedood play Newcastle University on Tuesday 15th August. www.russiancircles.com

Saturday 9 September

The Unthanks All Dayer

Wednesday 20 September

The Cinematic Orchestra

22 September

Erland Cooper & Ensemble

27 September

6 October

12

Buy tickets direct and check out the full range of gigs for Autumn and beyond at sagegateshead.com/whats-on sagegateshead.com | @sagegateshead | 0191 443 4661

Gateshead Quays NE8 2JR

MUSIC SWANS @ BOILER SHOP

Words: Cameron Wright 1983 saw the release of Swans’ debut album Filth, and the rest is history. Filth was terrifying, kicking off the band’s career with a gigantic, sludging swagger. Pounding drums marched across the soundscape with the omnipotent stride of a juggernaut, as screeching guitars scrape and cry out, all feeding into the hysteria that frontman Michael Gira summons with every growl and scream, as he leaves his soul bare. Filth was important, the influence of this industrial, no-wave release are still rife within today’s musical landscape from punk to metal. By 1991 Swans had a cemented reputation unlike any other, rooted in a constant need for evolution and reinvention, with every album toying with new ways to peel back layers of darkness with a haunting effect. From their staggering industrial offerings, the band morphed into pristine gothic delicacy on Children of God and neo-folk experimentation on White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, not only mastering each genre they touched but fundamentally changing it. Swans deliver and revolutionise with a staggering ingenuity, churning out some of rock music’s most challenging, important, influential and impactful projects put to wax, and the weight of albums like Soundtracks For The Blind, The Seer or Be Kind still loom over them. 2023 saw Swans’ latest offering The Beggar. The behemoth of an album features Gira’s quaking voice booming with autonomy, as repetitive rhythms and eerily beautiful melodies drift across the exquisite production, which can perhaps only be matched by witnessing it in its live majesty. Take the opportunity to do so at Newcastle’s Boiler Shop on Tuesday 15th August and it’ll be a night of intensity that you may never be able to shake. www.younggodrecords.com

Swans play Boiler Shop, Newcastle on Tuesday 15th August.