Circle of Dust

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Circle of Dust
Genre(s) Electronic Rock
Christian Rock
Industrial metal
Years active 1988-1995, 1997
Label(s) R.E.X. Records
Associated acts Celldweller
Klank
Argyle Park
Former members
Klayton
Daren Diolosa
Dan "Leveler" Albert

Circle of Dust was a mid-1990s coldwave industrial band created and run by Klayton (then known as Scott Albert) who is now famous for his solo band Celldweller. The band spawned numerous offspring projects, primarily lead by both Klayton and his lead guitarist, Daren "Klank" Diolosa, including Klank, Angeldust, Argyle Park, and CHATTERBOX.

Contents

[edit] History

Circle of Dust was formed by New York based Scott Albert after his former thrash metal outfit Immortal (USA) disbanded.[1] Albert recorded and produced most of the Circle of Dust material himself. For the touring line up, the band was joined by lead guitarist Daren ”Klank” Diolosa and Scott's brother Dan ”Leveler” Albert. The band was signed to R.E.X. Records, which released the band's first album Circle of Dust in 1992. The album combined metal and dance music.[2] Albert rerecorded the album in 1995. The second album, Brainchild was more extreme than first one, and showcased dark cyberpunk-esque lyrics.[3] The album is characterized by strong elements of thrash metal.[1] A music video was shot for ”Telltale Crime” in Tennessee state penitentiary which was closed due to inhuman conditions.[3] The album was exclusively distributed to secular market, where the band achieved moderate success:[4] Part of the song ”Deviate” was used as the introsong for a long time in the now defunct MTV Sports show.[1]

Albert led the Christian industrial metal movement at one point and he was a part of many other groups such as Argyle Park, the underground supergroup of Christian industrial metal, which released the successful album Misguided (1995). Albert produced the sideproject of The Crucified members, Chatterbox's only album Despite. After a some disagreements with the label occurred, the touring line up of Circle of Dust disbanded.[3] Daren Diolosa started a soloproject under the name Klank and recorded the album Still Suffering in 1997. The second album Numb was somewhat successful because the song ”Blind” became a hit single.[5] Dan Albert recorded under the name Level. Scott Albert grew tired of R.E.X. Records' policy and the critique that he did not write Christian lyrics enough, and eventually left the Christian scene.[6] In 1998 Scott Albert recorded the "last" Circle of Dust album Disengage which incorporated elements of darkwave and synthpop. He took the pseudonym Klayton and formed Celldweller, and its music has been featured on many movie soundtracks, including Superman Returns and Spider-Man 3.[3]

[edit] Reception

Circle of Dust was popular in Christian circles during most of the 1990s, even though Klayton broke up the band in 1995. After their breakup, Klayton released one "last" album, Disengage. The liner notes to Disengage contained bits and pieces of an interview he had done, in which he explained that he had chosen to disband Circle of Dust and start anew with a later project called Angeldust (which also featured Criss Angel), as well as various photographs hinting at feeling rejected by churches. Circle of Dust was criticized by some Christians for not having religious enough lyrics, while other Christians criticized the music for being too chaotic. While there have been many other Christian bands involved in similar controversies, Circle of Dust was often considered to be one of the most controversial.

Since the breakup of Circle of Dust, there have been several re-releases of CoD albums. Among CoD fans, there are rumors that further re-releases of Klayton's material (including early CoD albums and his previous work on a project called Immortal) would be made. In 2005, Retroactive Records re-released the original self-titled Circle of Dust album, Brainchild's Mindwarp, Argyle Park's Misguided, and Metamorphosis (remixes of Circle of Dust, Brainchild, and Living Sacrifice). [1]

[edit] Discography

  • Telltale Crime (VHS 1992)
  • Circle Of Dust (1992)
  • Circle Of Dust/Brainchild Split 7" EP (1993)
  • Metamorphosis (1993, Compilation)
  • Brainchild (1994, R.E.X. Records)
  • Circle Of Dust (1995, R.E.X. Records, re-recorded version)
  • Disengage (1998, Flying Tart, Review: HM Magazine[7])
  • Circle of Dust (re-release) (2005, Retroactive Records)
  • Metamorphosis (re-release) (2005, Retroactive Records)
  • Brainchild (re-release) (2005, Retroactive Records)
  • Disengage (2006)

Tracks Appear On

  • I Predict A Clone (1994, A Tribute to Steve Taylor)
  • Can You Dig It? III (1994, R.E.X. Records Compilation)
  • Doom & Gloom: Visions of the Apocalypse (1995, Nesak International Records
  • Compe Noctem Volume 1 (1998, Bleeding Edge Media/Carpe Noctem Magazine)
  • Lightning Strikes Twice (Industrial Compilation)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Waters, Scott (2007). Circle of Dust. No Life 'til Metal. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  2. ^ Torreano, Bradley (2007). Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  3. ^ a b c d Circle of Dust Biography. Automatapedia webzine. Open Publishing (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  4. ^ Florez, Joe (2007). Celldweller - Celldweller. The Metal Observer. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. “Klayton is the one man army who is responsible for Celldweller. He sings, writes, produces and mixes. He's pretty much the industrial version of Peter Tägtgren. The man has not just popped up on the music scene by pure luck. He was responsible for two bands that had moderate success in the 90s in the underground Metal/Industrial scene: Argyle Park Circle of Dust.”
  5. ^ Klank Biography. Automatapedia webzine. Open Publishing (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  6. ^ Morrow, Matt. Klayton: Circle of Dust on leaving R.E.X. Records. HM Magazine webzine. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  7. ^ McGovern, Brian Vincent (July/August 1998). "Album Reviews: CIRCLE OF DUST Disengage". HM Magazine (72). ISSN 1066-6923. 

[edit] External links

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