Artist: ZircuS
Label: Radio Študent
Release: 2010
Rating: 3/5
A bundle of unusual sounds, at least by the standards of today’s music scene, this time comes from the Slovenian part of Carinthia. Slovenj Gradec, to be exact. Honestly, once you listen to Zircus, it’s not even all that shocking if you put yourself back 10 years. But today the whole thing undeniably sounds special.
Trance elements blended into metal riffs, tribal rhythms that howl up now and then, commanding vocals dosed with primitive-sounding shouting that can come across as deliberately annoying and biting. In short, an assault of aggression and hypnotic hedonism, delivered in a different and unusual way.
The cover of the debut “Epic Tribe” alone, which shows six “aliens” stepping through a dimensional portal onto some new, imaginary and undefined field, something we can read as the conquest of the dimensional expanses of a new artistic expression, hints that Zircus are not exactly an everyday phenomenon.
Provocative or not, listenable or not, the fact is that “Epic Tribe” is a record that always, in the end, confronts you with the fact of “switching off”. Yep. The less you think while enjoying this album, the better you’ll fare. And as a thank-you for that, the album also gets to you more easily, and the music reaches the listener the way the band originally imagined it.
But one thing is for sure. “Epic Tribe” only truly comes alive when played live. Zircus make use of some synthetic programming tricks, which has a definitely positive effect, since it boosts expressiveness by bringing in freshness and, to a degree, color. Even if at times the vibe hits very directly, bare and sharp in its synthetically exposed cosmetics. Bizarreness can’t be avoided this time. And it can only attract or repel. So with Zircus there are, in the vast majority of cases, only two paths. Either you’ll fall madly in love with them, or you’ll steer well clear.
“Epic Tribe” really drives down its own expressive lane, which is hard to pin down by genre, while hunting for comparisons with related bands is a hugely time-consuming and ultimately even soul-crushing job. Opener Cut to the Chase still brings to mind the tricks of the likes of Infected Mushroom, but the album quickly undermines any further attempts at analytical pigeonholing.
It’s clear that “Epic Tribe” is a diverse, provocative album, but in its experimenting it’s also beginner-level “green” and full of leads that could shape Zircus into a seriously hard-hitting stronghold. With the right production and an even more firmly defined arrangement, they could grow into a big success story. Why beginner-level green? Alongside the otherwise interesting moves, you can spot a few untapped gaps in the sound, which in such triviality get noticed, digested and figured out fast. At other points, the album shows there’s still plenty of room for dosing in the shock element of unpredictability and spontaneity, which could become the big keys going forward to defining their own principles of musical artistry even more sharply and, as a result, reaching a higher level of quality and expression.
“Epic Tribe” is in every respect an exciting document that will richly reward the curious and unburdened. It proves that in fusing programming with synthetic coatings and chopping guitars, there are always options for building on the solid cornerstone of your own artistic character. The band has pulled that off, and the future will show how far Zircus can develop. There are plenty of starting points on offer with “Epic Tribe”. Here’s hoping the band makes the most of them.
Lineup
Aleš Gangl – vocals, electronics
Max Gregor – guitar, bass guitar, electronics
Rok Bricman – guitar
Aleš Krevh – keyboards
Tomislav Gangl – projections, visualization, 3D digitization)
Marko Štruc – drums, percussion
Uroš Bračič – drums
Production
Uroš Vlahovič, Aleš Gangl & Marko Štruc
Track list
1. Cut to the chase
2. Morning night
3. Youareme
4. Going commercial
5. Renegades
6. Meet the asshole
7. Spirit
8. Epic tribe
9. City of peace
10. Opinion
