Circle Takes The Square "As The Roots Undo"
Alternate cover here.
Label: Robotic Empire, HyperRealist
Release Date: January 6, 2004
Genre: Screamo
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Same Shade as Concrete
3. Crowquill
4. In the Nervous Light Of Sunday
5. Interview At The Ruins
6. Non-Objective Portrait Of Karma
7. Kill The Switch
8. A Crater To Cough In
A lot of people argue on whether or not the album is a concept album. The people that think it is, think its a very deep album about religion, suicide and then the murder of god.
To go more in-depth on that, the song "intro" is about the birth of thought in the head of a man. Then in "Same Shade as Concrete" this man begins to question religion and the existence of god. In "Crowquill" the man decides to kill himself and pens out his suicide note (a crowquilled threnody). Then in "In The Nervous Light Of Sunday" he jumps out the window, and regrets the whole thing but its too late and he’s dead. "Interview at the Ruins" tells of how the public takes it and all the excitement over his suicide. "Non-Objective Portrait of Karma" the entire opening is about his ascension to heaven, and when he’s get there. He doesn't like what he sees, it’s corrupt and horrible. "Kill the Switch" is about mutiny, and everyone takes out god and the angels and try to achieve of a perfect society the way heaven should be. Heaven needs a leader, and they decide the man should be the leader. "A Crater to Cough In" is similar to the first track, because its the birth of a new god. Overtime he becomes corrupt with power. Another mutiny occurs and he is killed. As he is dying for the second time he is again regretting it again, and is now dead and nothing left of him.
I don't know if I personally believe that's what the albums is about, I think its an album about self discovery. The lyrics are very poetic and amazing, and it can easily have plenty of different interpretations on it.
Onto the album, Same Shade As Concrete starts off one of the singers yelling "Rejoice, Rejoice, a noble prince is born". The vocals are very good and mixed well, a male and female voice going from singing to screaming. A very powerful sounding song (as more are on this album). Its one of my personal favorites, especially the more mellow part where it slows down with the "shaper stop the music" line. When it slows down even more, with the lyrics "wade, in the water..." it comes across as an extremely emotive and powerful moment. Crowquill, is a very very emotional song about writing a suicide note. Yet they manage to present it in a very poetic way as opposed to the typical cliché way many bands seem to do it as. "In The Nervous Light Of Sunday" is one of the more hard tracks to understand (at least for me) the lyrics are very metaphorical and poetic. "Interview At The Ruins" starts off with a very pretty intro. Its about dying, and the outro is also very nice sounding with the steady chanting of "A murmur from the ruins echoes softly as the roots undo, and the branch becomes...". "Non-Objective Portrait Of Karma" has a very a rather lengthy intro, but it sounds great. The song itself is about disappointment, and betrayal. "Kill The Switch" starts off very hardcore. It deals with someone committing an act that as made obvious by the lyrics they deeply regret and feel horrible for. It’s very a very chaotic sounding track, which really works with the lyrics. "A Crater To Cough In" is about dying and then having to look back on your life. It closes the album beautifully, and wraps up the story of whatever the album meant to you really well.
Album Rating: 8.5/10
Its kind of a bad review, so if you think it sucks really sorry, I don't typically write reviews and I am probaly not very good at it. That is all.
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