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Dead Letter Circus CD reviews
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS – CD Reviews
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
Self-titled EP (3Massive Records/MGM)
Prior to this debut release, Brissie alt-rock four-piece Dead Letter Circus
have cultivated a loyal following on the local scene, and this EP could very
well propel them onto the national level. Hooking up with renowned producer
Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Helmet), Dead Letter Circus have produced six
melody-fuelled, adrenaline-driven songs with superb production values.
Frontman Kim Benzie has the vocal range that many of his contemporaries
lack, and the pick of the bunch comes is frantic opening track and lead
single 'The Mile'. (JG)
Time Off
Album of the Week
Dead Letter Circus
The second hand ticking on a clock face. A moment gone. A moment still to come. Something captured in a heartbeat, in the blink of an eye, in the time it takes for the weather to shift. The way a single photograph still stopped you in your tracks, how a film left you a gelatinous mess clutching at your Kleenex and your popcorn in the foyer, when a song shook you awake from a coma you didn’t even know you were in. These are the moments when art transcends the daily grind, when it seizes the human condition by the throat and says: “Get in. You’re going for a ride.” A moment that makes you feel that you are not the only alien on a planet full of humans. Minutes flooded with sheer, soul shifting power…well, my friends, there is no exchange or refund policy here. No turning back the clock once the beast starts ticking.
There are records and then there are records. Those that you use as drink coasters, those that serve more purpose than a single spin on your stereo and the rarities - the ones that burn themselves to memory, that ink themselves to your skin, that you will reminisce about ten years from now, detailing your exact location when they announced their spectacular arrival. These are more than just records. They mean something. You become protective of them. You pass them only to people you think might ‘get it’. They are your friends in the darkness. The little voices that tell you ‘you are not alone in this.’
How the hell four Brisbanites managed to come together in a matter of months and create a ‘moment’, one that will single handedly blow the Australian alternative rock movement out of the water, is beyond comprehension. Make no mistake either. This is not a fifth, a third or even a second stab. This is their debut release. Produced by the visionary Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect, Helmet), Dead Letter Circus is a six track, heavy rock, magnum opus in its own right. Epic, immeasurable and downright frightening, it is an EP which pulls a loaded gun, pushes it to your temple, forces you in the car, then drives at dizzying speeds on the freeway. It brakes, it accelerates, it swerves, it hits the skids, it crashes, it burns, it accelerates again.
To try and actually describe the individual track listings on Dead Letter Circus in a technical manner would cheat the band. Paper cannot capture frontman Kim Benzie’s unparalleled vocal aptitude, a voice so layered with intensity and fervour it’s verging on religious. Nor can it summarize the divinely twisted, hauntingly schizophrenic, angular meets elastic masterpieces created by guitarist Rob Maric and bassist Stewart Hill or the tribal / thrash fusion of drummer Scott Davey who steers a song at a standard tempo until a demonic velocity possesses him. Words cannot conjure the mesmerizing sonic soundscapes showcased on tracks like The Mile, Lines, Disconnect, Are We Closer and This Life Awake, ones which ebb and flow, splinter and shatter, fade and fall away, until you think it’s safe. They lurk about in the shadowy ambience, waiting for the listener to feel secure, then when it’s least expected, lurch of nowhere with their foot hard on the gas, sending the speedometer flying.
Then it happens. The greatest heavy rock song I have heard in recent memory. The track that finally cements Dead Letter Circus as the force to be afraid of in a scene boasting such eminent peers as Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect and Heavy Weight Champ. Alien - a six minute, twenty eight second, soul scarring rock opera closes the curtain. From Benzie’s spine tingling emoting – a tortured choirboy treading the boards of hell, to the staggering and hypnotic man-meets-machine instrumentalism of Maric, Hill and Davey, to the technical wizardry cast by Forrester Savell, Alien reaches heights some acts scale for years and still fall short of attaining. How a band this immature managed to unravel this giant, twisted ball of beautiful darkness without leaving knots or kinks in its wake is something inconceivable. Those once in a lifetime moments I spoke of earlier – the single photograph still that stopped you in your tracks, the film that left you a mess, the song that redefined everything for you – that moment came with Alien.
So, the second hand keeps ticking on the clock face. A moment gone. A moment still to come. Something captured in a heartbeat, in the blink of an eye, in the time it takes for the weather to shift. Ten years from now you too will reminisce of where you were when you first heard Dead Letter Circus in all of their unmasked and innocent glory. By then they won’t just be four Brisbanites who dared to challenge the formula, dared to step beyond mediocrity into the gaping abyss of risk versus reward, dared to drive a car full of hostages to unthinkable speeds down the freeway of fire to see what lay on the other side.
Helen Barradell
Beat Mag
Dead Letter Circus – Independent.
Nearly every press release these days mentions that the band in question have a sound that transcends genre. Normally, it’s all rubbish, but it kind of suits Dead Letter Circus’ self-titled EP. They take cues from metal, punk and other heavy traditions, but approach them with the subtlety that eludes most of their Australian peers. The guitars are relentless, from punchy opener The Mile to my favourite, the sprawling Alien. The band list progressive bands like Deftones, Faith No More and The Mars Volta as their influences. You can hear them reaching for that sound and, with a little time, they just might make it.
Liam Casey
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK – Dead Letter Circus
Independent
After years of preparation, slaving away in a dimly-lit rehearsal room and playing countless live shows, we have the debut EP from Brisvegas quartet Dead Letter Circus, the new darlings of the Aussie heavy rock scene.
From the first second, this CD is right in your face, and refuses to let you breathe… well, there’s somewhat of a respite when ‘This Life Awake’, the fifth track out of the total six, opens with some Joshua-Tree-like delay guitar noodlings. It’s rather catchy track, as is the entire EP; though it’s a melodic onslaught aimed squarely at your head, it’s a beautiful one at that, which will keep you tapping your feet and nodding that targeted noggin of yours.
The boys teases us all when they put opening number ‘The Mile’ on their Myspace page, and pretty much floored everyone with what came out of the computer speakers: intricate bass lines mixed with delay-soaked, distortion-drenched guitars and soaring, multi-octave vocals. The sound of the disc is superb, thanks in part to the amazing production talents of Forrester Savell. The band knows their strengths and they stick to it: ‘Disconnect and Apply’ being an apt example of what DLC are capable of. ‘Alien’ is a grand finale which ebbs and flows from full-blown guitar to up-beat electronic beeps and blips.
Oh yeah, and what’s with Oz bands’ fascination with “Dead Letter”? Dead Letter Opener, Dead Letter Chorus. I’ll stick with the Circus.
Dom Alessio
Brag.
Dead Letter Circus – Self Titled
(Independent)
Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus are the latest Australian band to bear the Forrester Savell sound. Tracks like ‘The Mile’, ‘Lines’ and ‘Alien’ are astoundingly assured for a debut and will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect and Cog. With the right support shows and some Triple J airplay, it shouldn’t be long until DLC are enjoying their success of their peers.
Gav
Tsunami Magazine
Dead Letter Circus – 3Massive/MGM 6/10
Brisbane’s DLC formed back in ’05 and this six song EP is their first release. All the bios will tell you a band can’t catergorised. The sad truth is, most can. You can probably file Dead Letter Circus in-between The Butterfly Effect and The Mars Volta (without so much of the voltage and Spanish crooning) et al. But no need to write them off as a copycat outfit, it just means they’ve got a certain sound, which, let’s face it, makes it easier to organize you CD collection by mood, if the mood took you. An EP of well-produced, solid songs, this has enough of DLC’s own stamp to make it worth a listen or two.
MG
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
Self-titled EP (3Massive Records/MGM)
Prior to this debut release, Brissie alt-rock four-piece Dead Letter Circus
have cultivated a loyal following on the local scene, and this EP could very
well propel them onto the national level. Hooking up with renowned producer
Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Helmet), Dead Letter Circus have produced six
melody-fuelled, adrenaline-driven songs with superb production values.
Frontman Kim Benzie has the vocal range that many of his contemporaries
lack, and the pick of the bunch comes is frantic opening track and lead
single 'The Mile'. (JG)
Time Off
Album of the Week
Dead Letter Circus
The second hand ticking on a clock face. A moment gone. A moment still to come. Something captured in a heartbeat, in the blink of an eye, in the time it takes for the weather to shift. The way a single photograph still stopped you in your tracks, how a film left you a gelatinous mess clutching at your Kleenex and your popcorn in the foyer, when a song shook you awake from a coma you didn’t even know you were in. These are the moments when art transcends the daily grind, when it seizes the human condition by the throat and says: “Get in. You’re going for a ride.” A moment that makes you feel that you are not the only alien on a planet full of humans. Minutes flooded with sheer, soul shifting power…well, my friends, there is no exchange or refund policy here. No turning back the clock once the beast starts ticking.
There are records and then there are records. Those that you use as drink coasters, those that serve more purpose than a single spin on your stereo and the rarities - the ones that burn themselves to memory, that ink themselves to your skin, that you will reminisce about ten years from now, detailing your exact location when they announced their spectacular arrival. These are more than just records. They mean something. You become protective of them. You pass them only to people you think might ‘get it’. They are your friends in the darkness. The little voices that tell you ‘you are not alone in this.’
How the hell four Brisbanites managed to come together in a matter of months and create a ‘moment’, one that will single handedly blow the Australian alternative rock movement out of the water, is beyond comprehension. Make no mistake either. This is not a fifth, a third or even a second stab. This is their debut release. Produced by the visionary Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect, Helmet), Dead Letter Circus is a six track, heavy rock, magnum opus in its own right. Epic, immeasurable and downright frightening, it is an EP which pulls a loaded gun, pushes it to your temple, forces you in the car, then drives at dizzying speeds on the freeway. It brakes, it accelerates, it swerves, it hits the skids, it crashes, it burns, it accelerates again.
To try and actually describe the individual track listings on Dead Letter Circus in a technical manner would cheat the band. Paper cannot capture frontman Kim Benzie’s unparalleled vocal aptitude, a voice so layered with intensity and fervour it’s verging on religious. Nor can it summarize the divinely twisted, hauntingly schizophrenic, angular meets elastic masterpieces created by guitarist Rob Maric and bassist Stewart Hill or the tribal / thrash fusion of drummer Scott Davey who steers a song at a standard tempo until a demonic velocity possesses him. Words cannot conjure the mesmerizing sonic soundscapes showcased on tracks like The Mile, Lines, Disconnect, Are We Closer and This Life Awake, ones which ebb and flow, splinter and shatter, fade and fall away, until you think it’s safe. They lurk about in the shadowy ambience, waiting for the listener to feel secure, then when it’s least expected, lurch of nowhere with their foot hard on the gas, sending the speedometer flying.
Then it happens. The greatest heavy rock song I have heard in recent memory. The track that finally cements Dead Letter Circus as the force to be afraid of in a scene boasting such eminent peers as Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect and Heavy Weight Champ. Alien - a six minute, twenty eight second, soul scarring rock opera closes the curtain. From Benzie’s spine tingling emoting – a tortured choirboy treading the boards of hell, to the staggering and hypnotic man-meets-machine instrumentalism of Maric, Hill and Davey, to the technical wizardry cast by Forrester Savell, Alien reaches heights some acts scale for years and still fall short of attaining. How a band this immature managed to unravel this giant, twisted ball of beautiful darkness without leaving knots or kinks in its wake is something inconceivable. Those once in a lifetime moments I spoke of earlier – the single photograph still that stopped you in your tracks, the film that left you a mess, the song that redefined everything for you – that moment came with Alien.
So, the second hand keeps ticking on the clock face. A moment gone. A moment still to come. Something captured in a heartbeat, in the blink of an eye, in the time it takes for the weather to shift. Ten years from now you too will reminisce of where you were when you first heard Dead Letter Circus in all of their unmasked and innocent glory. By then they won’t just be four Brisbanites who dared to challenge the formula, dared to step beyond mediocrity into the gaping abyss of risk versus reward, dared to drive a car full of hostages to unthinkable speeds down the freeway of fire to see what lay on the other side.
Helen Barradell
Beat Mag
Dead Letter Circus – Independent.
Nearly every press release these days mentions that the band in question have a sound that transcends genre. Normally, it’s all rubbish, but it kind of suits Dead Letter Circus’ self-titled EP. They take cues from metal, punk and other heavy traditions, but approach them with the subtlety that eludes most of their Australian peers. The guitars are relentless, from punchy opener The Mile to my favourite, the sprawling Alien. The band list progressive bands like Deftones, Faith No More and The Mars Volta as their influences. You can hear them reaching for that sound and, with a little time, they just might make it.
Liam Casey
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK – Dead Letter Circus
Independent
After years of preparation, slaving away in a dimly-lit rehearsal room and playing countless live shows, we have the debut EP from Brisvegas quartet Dead Letter Circus, the new darlings of the Aussie heavy rock scene.
From the first second, this CD is right in your face, and refuses to let you breathe… well, there’s somewhat of a respite when ‘This Life Awake’, the fifth track out of the total six, opens with some Joshua-Tree-like delay guitar noodlings. It’s rather catchy track, as is the entire EP; though it’s a melodic onslaught aimed squarely at your head, it’s a beautiful one at that, which will keep you tapping your feet and nodding that targeted noggin of yours.
The boys teases us all when they put opening number ‘The Mile’ on their Myspace page, and pretty much floored everyone with what came out of the computer speakers: intricate bass lines mixed with delay-soaked, distortion-drenched guitars and soaring, multi-octave vocals. The sound of the disc is superb, thanks in part to the amazing production talents of Forrester Savell. The band knows their strengths and they stick to it: ‘Disconnect and Apply’ being an apt example of what DLC are capable of. ‘Alien’ is a grand finale which ebbs and flows from full-blown guitar to up-beat electronic beeps and blips.
Oh yeah, and what’s with Oz bands’ fascination with “Dead Letter”? Dead Letter Opener, Dead Letter Chorus. I’ll stick with the Circus.
Dom Alessio
Brag.
Dead Letter Circus – Self Titled
(Independent)
Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus are the latest Australian band to bear the Forrester Savell sound. Tracks like ‘The Mile’, ‘Lines’ and ‘Alien’ are astoundingly assured for a debut and will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect and Cog. With the right support shows and some Triple J airplay, it shouldn’t be long until DLC are enjoying their success of their peers.
Gav
Tsunami Magazine
Dead Letter Circus – 3Massive/MGM 6/10
Brisbane’s DLC formed back in ’05 and this six song EP is their first release. All the bios will tell you a band can’t catergorised. The sad truth is, most can. You can probably file Dead Letter Circus in-between The Butterfly Effect and The Mars Volta (without so much of the voltage and Spanish crooning) et al. But no need to write them off as a copycat outfit, it just means they’ve got a certain sound, which, let’s face it, makes it easier to organize you CD collection by mood, if the mood took you. An EP of well-produced, solid songs, this has enough of DLC’s own stamp to make it worth a listen or two.
MG