Album Review: Circle Takes The Square - Decompositions: Volume Number One

Savannah's Circle Takes The Square have existed since 1999 – however, until their latest was released on the day of the projected Mayan apocalypse, they only had one full-length album to show for it. The DIY band came to underground prominence with their celebrated 2004 album As The Roots Undo, a perplexing yet engaging release that saw a unique combination of hardcore, punk, grind and metal influences smashed together. Almost nine years on, Decompositions: Volume One shows a band matured and transformed far beyond the typical notions of progression music fans are used to hearing between albums. 

Decompositions is still immediately identifiable as Circle Takes The Square. While drummers and second guitarists have come and gone in recent years, the band's core members Drew Speziale and Kathy Stubulek remain behind their strings and microphones – the male/female dual vocal collaboration providing a wide palette. Musically, angular and dissonant textures have become more technical but have also taken a step back to allow deeper, more sludge-oriented moods to flourish. The album hasn't been written as just a collection of songs – the arc has a distinct progression not just in story but composition also. An obvious example of this would be riffs and vocals that twist, wind and subvert their way from Prefaced By The Signal Fires into Sinking Vengeance Into Being two tracks later. 

Decompositions conjures up images of blood and piss but finishes up with a sense of darkened peace and bliss. It's a truly beautiful, incomparable and magical album, and a stellar accolade for a band that refused to let their creative process be hurried by any outside pressures.