Style: progressive metal, doom metal, synthwave (mixed vocals)
Review by: Nick
Country: California, United States
Release date: 04 June, 2021
Narci is Circle of Sighs‘s second album. Who is Circle of Sighs you ask? Fuck if I know. I dug and dug and all I could find about them is that their Bandcamp says they’re from California, but other sources say international. Their press release calls them an “anonymous occult synth doom collective” which I would find extremely badass if I wasn’t too busy giggling at the thought of an occult collective needing a press release. Whatever they actually are, be them Lovecraftian beasts damned for eternity to churn out kickass tunes or just some random dudes with a fun side project, they’ve definitely started grabbing some eyes. This attention mainly comes from the aforementioned genre labels, but one may also get intrigued by their description of it as “a quasi-concept album about an eschatological event caused by a digitally communicable mental disease”. Now, admittedly I have picked up absolutely nothing about that concept in my listening for this review, but I have no doubt that it’s there buried beneath the musical mindfuck that is Narci.
To give a clear description to this band would be doing them a disservice. They may call themselves “synth doom”, but they’re so much more than doom metal with synths. They somehow tap into about five completely different genres and take full advantage of each one at different parts of the album. If you want a clear label that you can slap on the tin, I’d say “avant-garde progressive doom metal with synthwave elements”, but even that doesn’t do it justice. Honestly, even a whole review won’t do it justice, so if you have 43 minutes to spare I strongly encourage you to listen to it before finishing this review because it’s best experienced spoiler free. If you don’t mind spoilers though or have already heard it, feel free to read on.
Before anything else I wanna focus on the good stuff, because there is plenty of good to focus on here. The musicianship is masterful beyond that of your typical prog wankery. The center of the obsession that I and many others have had with this album is their experimentation and innovation, both of which require an intimate knowledge of your instruments and songwriting. With enough patience and practice, anyone can learn to write in their genre of choice, but to do it well and to be writing in two other genres simultaneously? That’s some otherworldly skill. Props to them for having the balls to even try, let alone to pull it off to the extent that they have.
The biggest critique I have of this album is easily the inconsistent production. I’m not one to complain about lo-fi mixing, in fact I often find it charming, but there are times on this album where tracks will go from having neat production to incoherent metal chaos. It isn’t every time, but it’s more than once which is enough to be notable.
One particular example of this production working in their favor comes in the form of a haunting cover of Joni Mitchell‘s “Roses Blue”. It starts off sounding like an early Pink Floyd tune but slowly builds into a spine-chilling doom metal banger with monotonous screeching and droning distorted guitars. I know that this track is a cover, but they completely make it their own and the way they do so leads to it being one of the biggest standout tracks.
The structure of the album itself is admittedly pretty all over the place, which is understandable considering the fact that each track is a completely different genre from the last. No one is going to be able to make a Gentle Giant type instrumental (“We Need Legends”) fit in with a goregrind infused doom track (“Narci”), but they come as close as one could expect. And they reward you well for making it through. What awaits you at the end of eight tracks of pure insanity is the jaw-dropping climax in the 70s prog inspired finale “The Man Who Stole the Wind”. By the time you reach the height of that track there’s a feeling of catharsis from the maelstrom you just faced and, honestly, it makes all of it worth it.
This is easily the most unique album I’ve heard all year and I have a feeling that it’s gonna stay that way. When I set out on this review, and even after the first draft, I had a lot of critiques. I had a lot of little nitpicks and qualms that resulted in a far more pessimistic outlook on this release, but as I spent more time with it and dug deeper I kinda fell in love with it. It’s imperfect for sure and definitely a little undercooked, but amidst the clunky structure and occasionally jarring production lies a treasure trove of ambition and innovation. Is this the future of prog? No. Definitely not. But it’s something entirely new and something that could be perfected into its own category, assuming it’s not too niche to catch on. For now though, all we can do is sing our praises to our benevolent synth doom overlords in hopes that they may grace us with some more mindfuckery.
ALL HAIL.
Recommended tracks: The Man Who Stole the Wind, Roses Blue, We Need Legends
Recommended for fans of: Anyone whose interest is peaked by the phrase “avant-garde progressive doom metal with synthwave elements”
Final verdict: 7.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Metal-Archives page
Label: Metal Assault Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook
Circle of Sighs is:
– We are all Circle of Sighs on this blessed day.
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