Blood Circus was a short-lived band from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, formed in 1988 that has been described as sludge metal or grunge. Rock journalist Ned Raggett writing in

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

describes the band's music as "rough and ready, sludgy guitar rock with a bad attitude".

History

The band's first release was a single, 1988's "Two Way Street"/"Six Foot Under", on Sub Pop. Both Mudhoney and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

performed their first shows in Seattle opening for Blood Circus at the Vogue in 1988. In 1989 Sub Pop released the band's first and only album, a five-track EP called '' Primal Rock Therapy'' which, despite being now recognised as a milestone record of that time and place, was at the time panned by the critics and ignored by the public. This contributed to the split of the band in 1989 after a North American tour with the French band Les Thugs. Both bands played in San Francisco in June 1989. They briefly reformed in 1992, when Sub Pop re-released ''Primal Rock Therapy'' on CD with five additional unreleased tracks."Blood Circus Enjoys Reunion In Scene They Helped Create"
''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'', October 23, 1992. The rerelease comprised almost all of the band's recorded output, except for the song "The Outback", which can be found on the '' Sub Pop 200'' compilation. The band also briefly appeared in the 1996 film ''

Hype! ''Hype!'' ( 1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early ...

'', a documentary about the rise of the Seattle scene. Blood Circus performed a one-off reunion show at Seattle's

Crocodile Cafe The Crocodile (formerly the Crocodile Cafe, and sometimes called The Croc) is a music club at 2505 1st Avenue at Wall Street in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Opened by Stephanie Dorgan as the "Crocodile Cafe" ...

in 2007."Where Have You Gone, Michael Anderson of Blood Circus?"
/ref> In April 2012 Geoff Robinson conducted a comprehensive audio interview wit
Music Life Radio
about Blood Circus, and his life. In May 2017 "Six Foot Under" was included on the deluxe reissue of '' Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''.

Discography

* ''Two Way Street/Six Foot Under'' 7" (1988) * '' Primal Rock Therapy'' EP (1988) * '' Sub Pop 200'' – "The Outback" (1988) * ''Primal Rock Therapy'' (1992) CD re-release with 5 previously unreleased tracks from 1989. * ''Unreleased Ünd Live'' (2007) CD compilation with 12 previously unreleased live tracks from 1988 to 1989. * ''Dead Beats'' (2020) CD compilation of remastered tracks from Primal Rock Therapy and the Two Way Street / Six Foot Under single. Limited Self-release by the band through Bandcamp.

References

External links

Official Blood Circus WebsiteBlood Circus on Facebook
American sludge metal musical groups American grunge groups Musical groups from Seattle Rock music groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups reestablished in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 {{US-rock-band-stub