''Memorial'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band

Russian Circles Russian Circles is an American instrumental band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their ori ...

. The album was released on October 29, 2013 through

Sargent House Sargent House is an American management company and record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and also owns a music video production company called Ref ...

. ''Memorial'' was produced by

Brandon Curtis Brandon Curtis is the vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist in the space rock band The Secret Machines. Originally from Norman, Oklahoma, he was friends with members of The Flaming Lips, The Chainsaw Kittens and Tripping Daisy. Brandon and his broth ...

(

Secret Machines Secret Machines are an American alternative rock band, originally from Dallas, Texas, United States, before moving to New York City. The original lineup consisted of two brothers, Brandon (vocals, bass guitar and keyboards) and Benjamin Curtis ( ...

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

), who also produced the band's two previous albums, ''

Empros ''Empros'' is the fourth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles. The album was released on October 25, 2011 through Sargent House. This is Russian Circles' first album released solely through Sargent House; for their first three ...

'' (2011) and ''

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

'' (2009). Prior to the release of ''Memorial'', Russian Circles released online streams of "Deficit" in August 2013, "Memorial" in September 2013 and "1777" in October 2013 to promote the album. Russian Circles' first tour in support of ''Memorial'' was a late-2013 European tour with

Chelsea Wolfe Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work has blended elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music. Raised in Northern California with a country musician father, Wolfe began writin ...

Background and composition

Bassist Brian Cook said that ''Memorial'' is more "polarizing" between heavy and soft parts than previous efforts, and that the "heavy parts are much more blown out and exaggerated while the pretty moments are far more restrained, delicate, and atmospheric." Cook also described the album as being darker and more somber than previous efforts. Inspired by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's 1977 album ''

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

'', ''Memorials album structure features the similarly composed intro/outro songs "Memoriam" and "Memorial" to make the album start and end in the same place.

Critical reception

''Memorial'' received critical acclaim upon its release. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 88, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for

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 databas ...

, Gregory Heaney praised the album, stating that ''Memorial'' was "one of the band's strongest works to date", giving it four-and-half-stars out of five. Brice Ezell of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' rated the album ten out of ten and called it "one of 2013’s true artistic masterpieces". Dom Lawson from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' was also positive, writing that "Right now, few bands conjure such vital and nourishing food for the imagination." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

's'' Farah Barakat wrote, "There's no questioning, however, the intricate craftsmanship that makes ''Memorial'' a memorable release in Russian Circles' ever-expanding discography." Brandon Stosuy of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' praised the band's ability to create interesting music with such a sparse, largely vocal-devoid lineup. ''Memorial'' appeared on several publications' year-end lists.

Accolades

Track listing

All music written by Russian Circles.

Personnel

''Memorial'' personnel adapted from CD liner notes. Russian Circles * Brian Cook * Mike Sullivan * Dave Turncrantz Additional musicians * Jill Kaeding – cello * Greg Norman – trombone *

Susan Voelz Susan Voelz (born Susana Maria Voelz) is an American musician. A Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, violinist, and composer. She is a member of the alternative rock band, Poi Dog Pondering. She has also worked with a long list of famous musician ...

– violin *

– vocals on "Memorial" Recording and production *

– production * Joe Lambert – mastering * Greg Norman – engineering * Russian Circles – production Artwork and design * David Knudson – design * Ryan Russell – photographs

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Russian Circles albums Sargent House albums