#11 - Circle of Dust - Contagion
Every passing countdown brings us bands with interesting stories. This year we've had old faces returning (Metric, Chvrches, House of Heroes), new favorites arise (Mad Anthony, Safemode), and even some surprising returns (3 Doors Down, Trivium). But none are more surprising than the phoenix rising from the ashes that is Circle of Dust. CoD's last album Disengage was released way back in 1998 and can easily be considered one of my all-time favorite discs. The band was laid to rest after the album with frontman Klayton persevering with a new musical project, Celldweller. The latter project received much critical acclaim but it seems that Klayton missed his old work with Circle of Dust. It was revealed last November that he had finally re-acquired all of the old tapes that he made ages ago for CoD and was planning on remastering and re-releasing all of his previous albums throughout 2016, culminating with a new album being released late 2016. Dude has been one of my musical idols and I had long lamented the presumed extinction of CoD until the news broke that he was finally bringing it back.
The album has yet to drop, but Klayton has released 4 new tracks since announcing the new disc. The first of those tracks was "Contagion", which features an updated take on CoD's old sound; pulsing beats, heavy guitars, electronic riffs, and of course old-school samples. The song deals with the upcoming technological takeover of the world and man's relationship with said technology. The lyrics are brilliant and the music is both beautiful and brutal all wrapped together in a perfect industrial bundle. I am perfectly willing to bet that a song off of Machines of Our Disgrace will be featured in the 2017 Countdown. For now, enjoy this beautifully mastered piece of industrial madness!
Title: Contagion
Artist: Circle of Dust
Album: Machines of Our Disgrace
Previous #11s
2015: Catfish and the Bottlemen: Cocoon
2014: Meg Myers - Desire
2013: Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
2012: Swimming With Dolphins - Sleep To Dream
2011: Power Quest - Glorious
2010: Taio Cruz - Dynamite
2009: Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
Wow. I had no idea that this was a thing. I've been tepid on Celldweller, while wishing he'd do a proper CoD followup. This sounds great.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely get it. It's excellent all the way through. He's been re-releasing his entire catalogue this year, including the Argyle Park album. Each disc has tons of bonus stuff; demos, remixes, etc. So good!
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