aaron turner

Rainbows in the Dark: Aaron Turner and Jon Mueller — “Now That You’ve Found It”

IanLeave a comment

Aaaah, it feels good to be back at my old station.  While this year has been an absolutely incredible year for metal, I guess I’m taking a page out of my sibling’s book and diving more into the non-metal territory recently.  Even if that wasn’t the case, though, any project with Aaron Turner’s name on it is enough to get my attention, and when he is collaborating with Jon Mueller (whose most recent solo release I had the absolute pleasure of reviewing) you *know* things are going to get weird.  On Now That You’ve Found It, weird is certainly one way of putting it.

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Album Review: Sumac – “Love in Shadow”

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Sumac - Love In Shadow

The music of Sumac seems to always exist in states of perpetual construction and deconstruction. On a macro level, the trio of Aaron Turner, Nick Yacyshyn and Brian Cook frequently conjure up some truly giant apocalypses. And yet on a micro level, there’s all kinds of jagged and uneven sonic qualities brought to the surface that create a texture of crumbling brittleness. Picture a skyscraper heavily damaged, still standing but with huge swaths of rebar exposed. In this metaphor Love in Shadow, Sumac’s most recent 2018 album, tries to patch up the crumbling sections without losing its distinctiveness.   Continue reading →

Album Review: Sumac – “What One Becomes”

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Sumac - What One Becomes

On second full length What One Becomes, Sumac does more than just offer up the standard sophomore release. What they do is expand on the near psychotic levels of dense aggression present on debut The Deal as well as play more like a unified giant in a way that same album hinted at. Their debut was astounding, no doubting that, but here it’s as if these three tap into the same brainwave. They play off one another extraordinarily well and while it’s only a five track album it is most definitely a long player. With no track shorter than nine minutes the band take full advantage of being able to stretch out completely. Continue reading →

Rainbows in the Dark: Mamiffer – “The World Unseen”

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“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” Kahlil Gibran

The ever-evolving, constantly collaborating duo of Mamiffer – composed of core members Faith Coloccia and the always-busy Aaron Turner – strike a deep nerve on their newest LP The World Unseen. It’s a blend of piano-driven simplicity, almost poppy, that locks step with Coloccia’s heavily layered, evocative vocals, ambient swells of noise from both the analog and the digital realms, and an emotional arc that, to me at least, is centered on the idea of touching divinity through earthly means as a way to give meaning to the pain of the past. It is all at once a supremely ethereal and heavenly, yet intensely introspective, and it’s not at all afraid of confronting listeners with emotions of grief and longing. Simply, it’s one of the clearest artistic statements I’ve heard so far this year.  Continue reading →

Things I’m Thankful for…

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Aaron Turner
Aaron Turner

As a brand new writer to Nine Circles, it feels somewhat symbolically significant that my first article here should be one of thanks. I’ve grown up surrounded by music in general and, since my college years, by heavy music specifically. Punk, hardcore, metal… after a childhood spent with classical music, film scores and classic rock, these genres welcomed me with open arms and I never looked back. I’ve been given so much by the art, music and individuals of these communities that I owe them all a huge debt of gratitude. Continue reading →