It’s been a while since I’ve dived into a long-form review, but if anyone can make me put the glass down, put my fingers on the keyboard, and pay fucking attention, it’s Chicago’s premier instrumental post-metal project Russian Circles. The trio of Mike Sullivan, Brian Cook, and Dave Turncrantz have built up one hell of a reputation for their no-nonsense, high-caliber, and head-turning expositions; in fact, they unceremoniously passed the two-decade mark while on their European tour supporting 2022’s Gnosis, celebrating it by…well, continuing on their tour and maintaining the momentum built up. Nine looks to celebrate the long tenure of the band the only way they know how: consistency, quality, and a subtle nod to the past while looking to the future.

Russian Circles will forever be associated as hometown heroes in my mind, but the year 2026 sees the trio scattered across vast distances: while Turncrantz still calls Chicago home, Sullivan is now based in Los Angeles, and Cook lives on an island off the coast of Seattle. Still, the band made time to return, not only to the city that launched their careers, but to the studio that played a part in their success — and so many others’ — over the years: the one and only Electrical Audio. With none other than Kurt Ballou behind the helm once again, it seems like Nine is an album poised for success from the get-go. And you know what? It is. Russian Circles are a band that has aged like a fine wine, and while they are certainly not known for reinventing themselves and pushing their boundaries in jarring and unconventional ways, every album they release is just a little bit more finessed than the last, and there’s always a little something different to let you know where their heads are at in this particular moment. On Nine, it’s definitely the return to a more angsty and downright crushing heaviness that hearkens back to at least Geneva, if not earlier. It’s Brian Cook’s liberal use of analog synths (or what sounds like analog synths to my ears). It’s Mike Sullivan’s deft use of nylon-string guitar to intro the apocalyptic closer “Seventh Seal.” It’s the little things, but those little things give Nine a life of its own and make this album stand out in Russian Circles’ discography, even when reinvention isn’t the name of the game.

Like all instrumental bands, Russian Circles’ music lives and dies based on how melody and harmony complement each other; vocals can’t save a boring song when there are no vocals to be found, but fortunately, Russian Circles are anything but boring. In fact, Nine officially has some of my favorite riffs and moments from them ever, and I’m proud to say I’ve been a fan for almost the entirety of their existence (shout out to Dakota/Dakota, iykyk). The opening riff to the aforementioned closing track is the kind of shot of adrenaline that makes me feel like I can punch through six feet of solid concrete, and it only gets nastier when the breakdown hits. Sullivan’s riffs are as razor-sharp as ever, and his contrapuntal use of tapped melodies and the subtle build in cleaner passages make these songs tell just as much of a story as they would if there were words. And of course, we can’t forget the rhythm section: Dave Turncrantz is up there on my list of favorite drummers of all time, and he puts on a goddamn clinic all over Nine. Similarly, Brian Cook’s powerful low end serves to add counterpoint to Sullivan’s melodies, and when the guitars back off and he and Turncrantz lock in together, it’s absolute magic. Cases in point: the grinding crescendo that builds up the midsection of “Eluvial” and the melodic and dexterous grooves underlying “Meridian.” The latter even ends with a bona fide drum solo! What more can you ask for?

“The music we make is a collective process of reconciliation, navigation, and reflection upon aging both as individuals and as a creative entity. Life has created very real distances between us, but the band continues to be at the center, and this creative collaboration is a way of charting the passage of time while also giving us a reason to look to the future,” say Russian Circles of their tenure and what Nine means in their legacy. May they always have the space to keep the band at their center. Russian Circles are a constant in my life, and I don’t know what I would do if they dropped off the face of the earth or, god forbid, fucked with the formula that has won them so many hearts. I can only hope they keep on keeping on, because it’s worked for them for over twenty years now, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop working anytime soon.

-Ian

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Nine is out August 28 on Sargent House.  For more information on Russian Circles, visit their official website.