Circle of Dust
Machines Of Our Disgrace


3.5
great

Review

by cloakanddagger USER (17 Reviews)
December 16th, 2016 | 17 replies


Release Date: 2016 | Tracklist

Review Summary: An unexpected surprise from Klayton, which shows him at home in the Circle of Dust moniker just as much as he was in the 90's.

2016 has been an interesting year for Klayton. At the start of the year we were told that he had earned the rights back to his Circle of Dust material, and he was going to be remastering every album. This was something many long-time fans celebrated, but then on top of that, Klayton also announced he was going to be releasing new material. This was an interesting announcement, given how the name has been dormant for almost two decades and Celldweller wasn't exactly having issues. It also left a haze of skepticism - would this really be a return to the 90's industrial metal that made Circle of Dust so good, or was this going to follow in the vein of Celldweller, with the focus being more on electronics?

The opening (and title) track quickly puts those doubts to rest. Kicking in with a dense soundscape of electronics and samples, very reminiscent of early Circle of Dust material, it quickly gives way to some of the heaviest guitar work that Klayton has written in years; the last time I heard anything like this from Klayton was in 2012 on Wish Upon a Blackstar, and even then this was used fairly sparsely. The title track and following track "Contagion" are very reminiscent of the first two Circle of Dust albums, the latter song actually being featured as a bonus track on the remasterd version of "brainchild". Whereas recent Celldweller relases have usually seen the guitar work compensate the electronics, here the two work hand in hand to create a ferocious industrial metal sound that has the 1990's written all over it, and in the best way. The electronics are also very reminiscent of Circle of Dust material (see "Neophyte" and "Embracing Entropy"), and the drumming, whilst programmed (It's industrial metal, it's to be expected in all fairness), works well within the music and again adds to the nostalgic feel of this album. Instrumentally this album is very strong and is a nice little reminder of what was so enjoyable about a lot of this style of music.

However, this album does have its weak spots. Lyrics have never been Klayton's strongpoint, and whilst here they aren't as cringeworthy as some of his more recent Celldweller material, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Thankfully the instrumentation is usually enough to distract the listener from the lyrics but there are times when it becomes blatantly obvious. In addition, the second portion of this album feels somewhat less consistent than the first half, with songs like "Hive Mind" and "k-OS" being a little less memorable than the first half of the album. The final track, "Malacandra", does end the album well, however. Similar in nature to the title track from "Disengage", it is an eerie electronic instrumental which leaves a haunting feeling at the end.

All in all, though, this is a very good album and an unexpected surprise from Klayton. The Circle of Dust moniker works just as well here as it did 20 years ago and Klayton is just as comfortable with it now as he was then, if not moreso since he now has complete control over the music. This album is a nice montage to Klayton's past as well as 90's industrial metal in general, and whilst it may have its faults, it has a lot of memorable tracks on it, and is a fine addition to Klayton's catalogue.



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user ratings (30)
3.7
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
cloakanddagger
December 16th 2016


764 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

As always, any feedback and constructive criticism is welcome. I feel like I didn't do a great job with this review but it is nearly midnight at the time of me writing it and I wanted to do a review for this since it came out.



I like Klayton's work but man he needs to stop featuring himself under a different name on his own music, it comes across as level 5 narcissism.

Toondude10
December 17th 2016


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

agreed with pretty much everything you've said. It's a pretty good album but it's nothing that really warrants repeats listens all that often.



Still though, there's some good shit on here.

William21
December 17th 2016


922 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Glad someone finally did a review for this.



Neurachem and Humanarchy are awesome; album's pretty fun, even if slightly underwhelming. Don't know why he bothered featuring himself on Embracing Entropy though. Could barely tell the difference, actually... which isn't good.

EvoHavok
December 17th 2016


8089 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Really enjoyed the album. Nice write-up!

cloakanddagger
December 17th 2016


764 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Humanarchy is pretty good, reminds me of ministry in places.



Yeah the whole self-feature thing that Klayton does is a bit annoying and comes off as Narcissistic. Embracing Entropy was pretty enjoyable though.

Grimlin
December 17th 2016


1419 Comments


It's a weird gripe, but it kinda drives me crazy he decided to make the cover in black and white. He's all about vibrant colors on everything else he does, but not the newest CoD album in nearly 20 years. Let's make that as bland looking as possible.

Flugmorph
December 27th 2016


34905 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

such a quality listen. almost a 4.0 but not quite

Toondude10
January 1st 2017


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this is basically a heavier version of Celldweller with some Fear Factory-like thrash thrown in tbh

EvoHavok
January 1st 2017


8089 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Working as intended.

Toondude10
November 30th 2017


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

new song



http://loudwire.com/circle-of-dust-dust-to-dust-exclusive-video-premiere/

EvoHavok
November 30th 2017


8089 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

In line with tracks off this. Fun listen.

parksungjoon
December 15th 2018


47231 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

wait i never posted here?

Aerisavion
February 3rd 2020


3145 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Shit, 2016?? I remember getting excited for this like yesterday

parksungjoon
December 15th 2020


47231 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

anyone know why this is tagged christian on lastfm ?

parksungjoon
April 4th 2021


47231 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

THOU SHALT NOT KILL



PEACE FROZEN STILL



RELEASE YOUR HATE



DEVIATE

Aerisavion
August 18th 2021


3145 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

H U M A N A R C H Y

ChrimzonCanine
December 21st 2021


2080 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Wish I liked this more. This really grew off me after a few listens when it came out



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