Circle of Dust
Circle of Dust (Remastered)

4.0
excellent

Review

by Trey STAFF
March 4th, 2016 | 56 replies

Release Date: 2016 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Circle of Dust’s debut is one of the most perfect blends of metal and electronics, and it has finally received the production it deserves.

Industrial metal is a hard genre to do correctly. In order to actually do it well, it requires someone proficient in electronics that is also creative. Let’s face it, that requirement automatically excludes a good 80% of industrial artists. Quality industrial metal also requires a good guitarist that actually has a love of industrial. How many guitar players grew up hoping to play like Al Jourgensen? If you are lucky enough to find a band that embodies both of those requirements, it generally turns out to be the same person doing everything (Rabbit Junk, Nine Inch Nails). In most other cases, you’re either going to get a metal band with a drum machine or an electro band with some looped power chords. Circle of Dust was one of those bands that actually had all of the requirements to make great industrial metal, and it was also one person doing everything; Scott Albert (AKA Klayton). Unfortunately, they were also on a low-budget Christian label, and never really received the attention they deserved.

Had things been just a little different, Circle of Dust’s self-titled debut would have been huge. When it was released in 1992, industrial was at peak popularity. Nine Inch Nails had opened the flood gate with Pretty Hate Machine in 1989, and a ton of bands had come riding through. You had the mainstream industrial rock bands being led by Stabbing Westward and Gravity Kills. You had the obscure veteran acts like Front 242 and Skinny Puppy being scooped up by the major labels. On the heavier side, though, Ministry was virtually alone until Marilyn Manson showed up nearly 4 years later. With the proper label backing, Circle of Dust would have been bigger than Ministry; their album was certainly better. Circle of Dust’s debut basically took the electronics and industrial-pop of Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine, and combined it with a thrash-based industrial metal sound that just worked. This made for an album that was more diverse and with better riffs than Psalm 69, but with the catchy, danceable electronics and vocal hooks that attracted people to Nine Inch Nails’ debut.

Instead of being a huge genre-defining album, Circle of Dust’s initial 1992 release just kind of came-and-went. When the band’s record company procured better distribution in 1995, Klayton opted to re-record the album while replacing some of the original album tracks with new songs. The album definitely did better the second time around, but it still didn’t reach the heights of Ministry or Nine Inch Nails. Nearly twenty years later, Circle of Dust’s debut is set to see its third release (based off the 1995 version of the album) and this time is the best so far. The album has been remastered from the ground up and sounds clearer and more powerful than ever. That means the pounding percussion that dominates every song is clearer and more intense. The electronics that had a tendency to get buried on the 1995 release now cut right through the riffs to fully compliment the music and create a more melodic backdrop. The riffs, too, have lost a bit of that muddy quality coming in with a sharper, fatter sound. Klayton’s vocals are now able to glide over the top when he’s featuring his melodic side and drop into the music when things get heavier.

Not content with simply remastering the album, Klayton also added a second disc full of unreleased material. The second disc actually opens with a brand-new track, ‘Neophyte’, which was written and recorded for a new Circle of Dust album in December. ‘Neophyte’ is basically a modern, less metallic version of what Circle of Dust has always done. There are also a few well-done remixes and alternate tracks on the second disc, but the majority of the songs are taken from Klayton’s musical infancy. This includes demo tracks from 1989/1990. The demo songs display a lot of the same elements that would eventually come to define Circle of Dust’s core sound, but they’re still a little rough around the edges. Beyond the demo songs are a series of instrumental tracks (all labeled ‘Dust’ and followed by a number) that share more in common with the pure electro of bands such as Front 242.

Even today, Circle of Dust’s debut is one of the most perfect blends of metal and electronics. The problem has always been the album’s dated production. The remastered version has totally fixed that issue and has finally presented the album the way Klayton probably imagined it all those years ago. This is the kind of re-release that feels genuine and should instantly appeal to those fans that discovered the band decades ago, but it is also modern enough in both sound and style to appeal to those that have never even heard of Circle of Dust. To put it simply, Circle of Dust’s debut album was ahead of its time. At a time when most industrial metal bands were just starting to figure out the genre, Klayton was releasing an album full of heavy guitars, excellent riffs, diverse electronics and beats, and a large number of samples – and it still stands the test of time today. With industrial’s peak long gone and Klayton doing really well with Celldweller, this third release of the band’s debut won’t suddenly make Circle of Dust a household name, but it has removed the only barrier to truly being able to enjoy it.

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