Ektro

Pharaoh Overlord : Zero

Aavikko : Okeanos

Bensiini : R

Beefed-up, blown-out, and ballsy, the new Finnish supergroup Bensiini finds Circle members Janne Westerlund, Jussi Lehtisalo, and Mika Rättö revisiting their noise-rock roots with help from Sokea Piste guitarist Heikki Hautala and Slussenanalys bassist Eetu Henttonen. Aggressively produced by former Hebosagil drummer and sound-art ace Ilpo Heikkinen, the quintet's debut album tips its grimy hat to macho, Chicago-based meatpackers like the Jesus Lizard as well as to classic Finnish lumberjacks Radiopuhelimet, but with a dash of homegrown Pori-style surrealism. Play loud. Loud as fuck.

Circle : Pharaoh Overlord

Circle’s Pharaoh Overlord is bound to contest all speculations you ever heard of these savant ritualists. What’s clear is that Pharaoh Overlord means the intrusion of the namesake of this album into Circle. It is a forest of fire. Their self-possessed purge from self-referentiality, oddly enough, intensifies the paradox-ridden spree with which Circle have ignited the very building blocks of the band itself into fiction that is ever leaking out into reality-infested horizons surrounding the voluptuous standstill of the vortex of music that is Circle’s Pharaoh Overlord. Horns and vocal chants hover like a hail storm above the stabbed soil of murky beats. This is epic experimental rock that will condense any impulse or mundane logic into pure inevitability. On Pharaoh Overlord, Circle explore the smouldering terrain of their kindred spirits to find the means of transgressing the border of parallel existence with their idols (that is, Pharaoh Overlord) with the intent of merging into one abstract entity of sonic flesh. There is no sobriety like loss of identity.

Pharaoh Overlord : Circle

Pharaoh Overlord’s Circle is bound to annul all expectations you ever held for these once avant-stoners. What’s clear is that Circle marks the fusion of Pharaoh Overlord with the namesake of this album. It is a wild card you foresaw. Their no-nonsense self-referentiality, oddly enough, inverses the paradox of the red queen: with the building blocks standing still, the friction with the ever-accelerating external realities gives the impression of expanding horizons in the standstill of tonal landscapes of the body of music that is Pharaoh Overlord’s Circle. Synthesizers float like nitrous oxide above the serene pastures of laid-back grooves. This is epic synth pop that would vaporize any pulse or mundane logic into the stream of thin air of upper atmosphere. On Circle, Pharaoh Overlord stand among their bling-blinded subjects as a modestly-clad emperor proud of the newly-discovered self-realization by means of merging with their idols and contestants (that is, Circle) into one abstract entity of sonic flesh. There is no sobriety like loss of identity.

Hopeajärvi : Hopeajärvi

Westerlund, Janne : Marshland

black vinyl, insert

Plain Ride : Skeleton kites

Circle : Leviatan

Circle : Panic

Pharaoh Overlord : Horn

Circle : Manner

Circle : Älä kysy vaan ota

Rättö ja Lehtisalo : Ed Benttonin briljantti stabilismi tai taivaallinen kylpysaippua