Album Of The Week
Russian Circles – Blood Year
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Instrumental, Ambient, Groove Metal
Favorite Tracks: Milano, Kohokia, Quartered
If you’ve ever cranked a record just to drown out the noise in your head, this album was made for you.
Russian Circles don’t bother explaining how you’re supposed to feel, they just drop these massive, grinding riffs on you until the noise lines up with whatever mess you’re carrying. This is the album you put on when the kids finally crash, your brain is fried, and you need something loud enough to drown out the day but steady enough to keep you from spinning. It’s heavy, ugly in the best way, and weirdly comforting — like sitting in front of a roaring amp after everything else finally shuts up.
Who Are Russian Circles?
Russian Circles is an instrumental post-metal trio from Chicago, Illinois, formed in late 2004 by guitarist Mike Sullivan and drummer Dave Turncrantz, who had previously played together in earlier projects. They soon recruited bassist Colin DeKuiper, releasing a self-titled EP before their full-length debut Enter in 2006. In 2007, Colin departed and was replaced by Brian Cook, known for his work in influential bands like Botch and These Arms Are Snakes, solidifying the lineup that would define the group’s signature sound.
Russian Circles are known for crafting heavy yet cinematic instrumental music that blends post-rock atmosphere with metal intensity, layering sprawling guitar lines, powerful rhythms, and thunderous bass without vocals. Over nearly two decades, they’ve released a string of acclaimed albums — including Station, Geneva, Empros, Memorial, Guidance, Blood Year, and Gnosis — while touring extensively worldwide and building a dedicated fanbase.
Personally
I can’t even remember when or how I first stumbled onto this world of instrumental metal bands — maybe a random playlist, a metalhead’s shirt I saw somewhere, or a friend passing it along. But somehow I got here, and man… this album completely changed how I deal with those days when your brain just won’t quit. Parenting is rough. Some days it’s straight-up soul-melting, and music has always been the thing that saves me. There are albums you listen to just because they sound good, and then there are the ones you grab when everything feels like too much — when the house is loud, your thoughts won’t stop, and you just need to exhale. This one? This is the peak Post Metal
By the time Blood Year dropped in 2019, Russian Circles had already mastered atmosphere with their post metal guitar tone and flowing musical cadence — but this album feels different. It’s tighter. Darker. More confrontational. Where earlier records let you drift, this one pulls you forward with grit and urgency. The riffs hit harder, the drums feel heavier, and the spaces between notes feel loaded with something anxious and restless. When I think about any ambient metal album, This is the one I am grabbing.
Albums like this are mental health tools. They’re the “headphones on, door shut, world off” kind of therapy you can actually touch and feel. They let you deal with frustration, anger, or just the brain-fried days without bottling it up or snapping at the people around you. And Blood Year? It doesn’t just scratch that itch. It smashes it out. Loud, unrelenting, beautiful, messy — it reminds you that sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is crank the volume, get lost in the sound, and let it carry you through.
Blood Year is heavy, dark, ambient, almost evil at times, but it’s always got these driving grooves that drag you along whether you’re ready or not. You can close your eyes, make the ugliest head-banging face imaginable (you know the one), and just let it pull all the chaos out of your chest. It’s aggressive, sure, but it’s also strangely soothing — like it gets it, the frustration, the exhaustion, the madness of life — and lets you blow off steam in a way that actually helps.
Russian Circles Gear
Guitars
Dunable Narwhal
Gibson SG
First Act Delgata Bass
Gibson Ripper II Bass
Amplification
Amps:
- Quilter Overdrive 202,
- Fender Twin Reverb,
- Fender Super Bassman,
- Sunn Model T (reissue).
- Hiwatt DR103 Head
Cabs:
- Darkglass 2×12,
- Emperor 4×12 & 1×15,
- Hiwatt 4×12
Pedals
Delays/Reverbs:
- Strymon (Dig, Timeline, Flint)
- EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath
- Fulltone Secret Freq.
Drives/Boosts:
- Friedman BE-OD Deluxe
- Mesa/Boogie Tone Burst/Flux Drive
- Xotic BB/RC Booster
- Bogner Burnley
- ZVEX Fuzz Factory.
Modulation/Other:
- MXR Phase 90/95
- DigiTech Drop/Whammy,
- Electro-Harmonix POG2,
- Dunlop Volume Pedal,
- Foxrox Octron3.
Loopers:
Final Thoughts
What makes Blood Year so powerful is how much it says without ever using words. There’s anger here. There’s exhaustion. There’s beauty buried under distortion. It sounds like modern life compressed into sound — the weight, the pressure, the moments of clarity that show up right before everything explodes again.
This is the kind of album you put on when you don’t want background noise — you want something to sit with you, push against you, and maybe even shake something loose. Whether you’re in the car, in the garage, or alone with your thoughts, Blood Year fills the space in a way very few records can.
If “Blood Year” is your kind of record, you might also want to check out:
