Circle of Dust – ‘Machines of Our Disgrace’ [Album Review]

Excerpted from AllMusic – Industrial Music: The most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music. Initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments (tape music, musique concrète, white noise, synthesizers, sequencers, etc.) and punk provocation.

Industrial is a term that was used to describe a great many bands in the 1980s and 1990s. The term became so hated by the very people involved in its inception, it became an easy way to irritate the musician simply by describing them as such. Now, twenty-five years later, industrial is a badge of honour for bands like Einsturzende Neubauten, J.G. Thirlwell, Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Ministry, KMFDM, and Nine Inch Nails (to name VERY few of the genres’ greats).

One band that always hit the ball out of the park but never truly received the accolades the material deserved was Circle Of Dust, boasting four wonderful releases under a variety of monikers (Brainchild, Metamorphosis and Argyle Park) and released on an obscure Nashville record label that went bankrupt and took the band’s music rights into lockdown for almost two decades. The awesome Argyle Park album touted collaborations with Tommy Victor of Prong, J.G. Thirlwell of Foetus and Mark Salomon (Stavesacre/Crucified).

After almost two decades of attempting to secure his original masters from the depths of a legal stranglehold, Circle of Dust mastermind Klayton (Celldweller) finally re-acquired the rights to his original Circle of Dust catalogue. Earlier this year, Klayton remastered and re-released deluxe versions of said catalogue, featuring over 11 hours of music across 175 tracks from the following 5 albums: Circle of Dust (self-titled), Brainchild, Metamorphosis, Disengage and Argyle Park. If you have never heard this stuff (and many haven’t) you are in for a real treat. They are all available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music, but the majority of the new unreleased material is wisely held back for purchase only as digital or physical releases (available here: https://fixtstore.com/collections/circle-of-dust)

On December 9th, Circle Of Dust will release new material, the first in over two decades. Machines of Our Disgrace offers up 13 new tracks of mind-blowing INDUSTRIAL MUSIC. If you ever got off on bands like Ministry, Skinny Puppy and Fear Factory, I feel very comfortable saying Machines of Our Disgrace will put a big fat 1990-era machinery-made smile on your face. Check out the title track and, if you like it, download a free MP3 of the title track and get a preview of the album.

Machines of Our Disgrace is an industrial album for the ages. Rife with obscure analogue “movie” quotes, the album delves deeply into all of the elements that made the finest industrial offerings back in the day. The title track is superb. The rolling guitar riff on “Contagion”; the haunting soundscapes on “Embracing Entropy”; the big beat backbone with bone-dry vocals to “alt_Human,” along with the progressive industrial trance of “Hive Mind” are all excellent touch points on the album. NOBODY is making music like this anymore – not of this calibre, anyway.

For anyone reading this and crossing their arms in jaded defiance I simply say this: Play it. Just once. Don’t even keep an open mind – you won’t need it. The music will turn you around within a few songs – guaranteed!

Machines of Our Disgrace Track Listing:

1. re_Engage
2. Machines of Our Disgrace
3. Contagion
4. Embracing Entropy” (featuring Celldweller)
5. Humanarchy
6. Signal
7. alt_Human
8. Hive Mind
9. Outside In
10. Neurachem
11. k_OS
12. Neophyte
13. Malacandra

Run Time: 62:10
Release Date: December 9, 2016
Record Label: FiXT Music