Circle of Dust - "Machines of Our Disgrace"

Circle of Dust - Machines of Our Disgrace
2016, Fixt

1. re_Engage
2. Machines of Our Disgrace
3. Contagion
4. Embracing Entropy
5. Humanarchy
6. Signal
7. alt_Human
8. Hive Mind
9. Outside In
10. Neurachem
11 k_Os
12. Neophyte
13. Malacandra

Klayton caps of a year of Circle of Dust remasters with a brand new album. A fantastic one at that! Machines manages to combine the sounds of the old albums into a unified whole. You've got some Brainchild type moments with the title track and "Contagion," but you've also got some more Disengage moments with "Embracing Entropy" and - naturally - "Malacandra." I'm really impressed with this album and I hope this isn't the last we hear from Circle of Dust. The only reason why Scandroid beat out this album for a spot on my picks is because Scandroid had the benefit of being a delightful surprise. I kind of knew I was probably going to dig this.

One thing I noticed was the voice samples. Past Circle discs were full of random samples from television shows, movies, etc. I've noticed that the samples on this album have kind of been limited to obscure sci-fi movies. That's not a complaint by the way. I'm wondering if Klayton was a little gun-shy about using copyrighted material. Back in the day you could get away with that sort of thing, but today? Good grief... he probably had to pick some stuff that was not under copyright just to save himself some headache down the line.

Useless Fact: "Neurachem" features samples from the seminal classic, The Brain That Wouldn't Die as made popular by the best show on earth, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Circle of Dust - "Disengage (Remastered)"

Circle of Dust - Disengaged (Remastered)
2016, FiXT

DISC ONE:
1. Waste of Time
2. Refractor
3. Yurasuka
4. Babylon
5. Chasm
6. Thulcandra
7. Blindeye
8. Mesmerized
9. Perelandra
10. You Are Fragile
11. Disengage
12. Chasm (Version 2.1.0)
13. Refractor (Version 3.2.1)
14. Easier To Hate (lvl Remix)
15. Hate Opened Wide
16. Alone to Die (lvl Remix)
17. Deadly Love (Uncensored Version)

DISC TWO:
1. Machines of Our Disgrace
2. Yurasuka (Blue Stahli Remix)
3. Your Noise (1997)
4. Resist (1996)
5. Goodbye (1998)
6. Waste of Time (Acoustic)
7. Yurstillasuka
8. Mesmerized (Acoustic)
9. Yurasuka (Blue Stahli Remix) [Instrumental]
10. Mesmerized (Instrumental)
11. Your Noise (Instrumental)
12. Mesmerized (Babylonian Flashback)
13. Resist (Instrumental)
14. Wast of Time (Acoustic) [Instrumental]

DISC THREE:
1. Beneath the Skin (Waste of Time Demo)
2. Chasm (Early Demo)
3. Blindeye (Demo)
4. Chasm (Late Demo)
5. Refractor (lvl Void Remix) [Demo 1997]
6. Chasm (Version 2.1.0) [Demo]
7. Dust 29
8. Dust 30
9. Dust 31
10. Dust 32
11. Dust 33
12. Dust 34
13. Dust 35
14. Your Noise (Clean)
15. Deadly Love (Censored)

Disengage is the final album in Klayton's Circle of Dust remasters. Naturally, being a Klayton production, there's a metric butt-ton of bonus material and superb art direction. I didn't have much experience with this album because I never even knew it existed until years after its release. It's much different than the albums that came before it. Most notably, the lyrics are not really Christian as Klayton was distancing himself from the market. It's also more on the techno side and less on the metal side. I think it would be a stretch to call this industrial. There's also not very many cool, strange samples. Disengage is also very ambient. Several tracks are techno-ambient tracks, that while cool, don't really do much for me. Almost the entire latter half of the album is remixes of "Refractor" and "Chasm." Hope you like the choruses to those two songs! Also the line, "YOU ARE FRAGILE!!!" You will hear these a lot is what I'm saying. This is probably my least favorite of the Dust albums but only because of the abundance of remixes and ambient stuff. I really like the first five or six tracks and I like some of the bonus stuff on disc two as well. There's just a lot of other stuff that isn't really for me.

Useless Fact: "Yurasuka" is not Japanese. It means "You're a sucker." Not much of a fact, but I only realized it when I heard the song itself. I thought it was Japanese for the longest time! Also, "Thulcandra" and "Perelandra" are names from C.S. Lewis' "Space Trilogy."

Argyle Park - "Misguided (Remastered)"

Argyle Park - Misguided
1995/2016, Fixt

DISC ONE:
1. Refuge
2. Headscrew
3. Agony
4. Futile
5. Scarred For Life
6. A Burden's Folly
7. Circle
8. Leave Me Alone
9. Violent
10. Diesel
11. Gutterboy
12. og
13. Misanthrope
14. Skin Shed
15. Doomsayer
16. Uffern

DISC TWO:
1. Fanny Pack
2. The Communist Masters of Deceit
3. Lonely
4. Fanny Pack vs Doomsayer
5. og's Revenge
6. Leave Me Alone (Klayton Vocal Demo)
7. Violent (Demo)
8. Resurrection of the Ravens (1992 4-track Cassette Demo)
9. The Conversation
10. A Burden's Folly (Instrumental Demo)
11. Diesel (Instrumental Demo)
12. Leave Me Alone (Instrumental Demo)
13. Skin Shed (Instrumental Demo)
14. Doomsayer (Instrumental Demo)
15. Once Great Leaders

DISC THREE:
1. Refuge (Acapella)
2. Fanny Pack (Instrumental)
3. The Communist Masters of Deceit (Instrumental)
4. Headscrew (Instrumental)
5. Agony (Instrumental)
6. Scarred for Life (Instrumental)
7. Circle (Redux) (Instrumental)
8. Gutterboy (Instrumental)
9. Doomsayer (No Guitar or Bass)
10. Agony (Instrumental - no guitar)
11. Scarred for Life (Instrumental - no guitar)

Wow... that is a lot of bonus material. For those who don't know Argyle Park was a side project of Circle of Dust's Klayton and someone named Buka. The music here is a bit more experimental than anything you'd find on Circle of Dust. It includes a slew of guest musicians and vocalists like Mark Solomon (The Crucified, Stavesacre, White Lighter), Jyro (Mortal), Klank, and Jeff Bellew (The Crucified, Chatterbox). It should probably go without saying that this is awesome and well worth your time - even if you have the original. Or if you have one of the couple of reissues. Naturally, this being the Klayton "final form" reissue it's packed with bonus material and new artwork. Though I've made peace with the fact that we'll never get any liner notes. It's even got a new song, "Fanny Pack" featuring Mark Solomon! If you don't have this in your vault, now's the time, ya'll!

I remember I got this around the time I was trying to get my driver's license. The song "Skin Shed" was actually spread over three tracks on the original CD. Also, "Once Great Leaders," which is on the second disc, was buried at the end of the original after many tracks of silence. Kind of glad they did away with that for this release.

Useless Fact: "The Communist Masters of Deceit" is actually the "Drive, He Said" remix that Klayton did for the the Steve Taylor tribute album. The difference is that "Masters" has all the Steve Taylor bits clipped out and replaced with samples. Also, "Lonely" appeared on a strange Stryper "tribute" album.

Circle of Dust - "Metamorphosis"

Circle of Dust - Metamorphosis
1993/2016, Fixt

DISC ONE:
1. Heldweller
2. Nihilistic Void
3. Consequence (Temporary Remix)
4. Dissolved (Disintegration Remix)
5. Descent (Pit of Hell Mix)
6. Consequence (Eternal Remix)
7. Daraq
8. Emerge (Living Sacrifice Intro)
9. Void Expression (Circle of Dust 'Blank Stare' Remix)
10. Void Expression (Circle of Dust 'Black Veil' Remix)
11. Distorted (Circle of Dust Remix)
12. Sacrificed (Circle of Dust Refix)

DISC TWO:
1. Bed of Nails (Blue Stahli Remix)
2. lvl - Backslide (Circle of Dust Remix)
3. Rivot - Never
4. Heldweller (Instrumental Demo)
5. Consequence (Temporary Remix Instrumental)
6. Klayton & Tommy Victor - Lightyear (Demo)
7. Klayton & Tommy Victor - Long White Con (Demo)
8. Heldweller (Cassette Demo - 1987)
9. Dust 16
10. Dust 17
11. Dust 18
12. Dust 19
13. Dust 20
14. Dust 21
15. Dust 22
16. Dust 23
17. Dust 24
18. Dust 25
19. Dust 26
20. Dust 27
21. Dust 28
22. Bed of Nails (Blue Stahli Remix Instrumental)

Whew! That was a lot to type! Metamorphosis began life as a compilation of songs from Circle of Dust, Brainchild (basically Circle of Dust), and Living Sacrifice. All of the tracks were remixed by Klayton. It was a cool little project then, it's a cool one now. Though it's really for fans. This is not the album you want to hand to somebody for their first exposure to Circle of Dust. However, it's a pretty cool package and I'm glad Klayton didn't let it fall into obscurity. The tracks that were on the original edition that later reappeared on the other albums aren't repeated here. Instead we get some cool tracks from Klayton's various side projects. Like I said, this is mostly for the Dust fan - but what a package it is. I especially like the Star Trek lettering on the new cover art.

Useless Fact: "Self-Inflict" and "Deviate (Sawed-Off Shotgun Remix)" are the two tracks that are missing. The first was on the '95 reissue of the debut and the second was used for the rerelease of Brainchild. Helpful information for that bar bet you'd undoubtedly have.

Circle of Dust - "Brainchild (Remastered)"

Circle of Dust - Brainchild
1993/1995/2016, FiXT

Disc One:
1. Cranial Tyrant
2. Telltale Crime
3. Prayers of a Dead Man
4. Regressor (Aggressive Mix)
5. Enshrined
6. Course of Ruin
7. Descend
8. Deviate
9. Pale Reflection
10. Aggressor (Regressive Mix)

Disc Two:
1. Contagion
2. Deviate (Blue Stahli Remix)
3. Am I In Sync?
4. Deviate (1992)
5. Telltale Crime (1992)
6. Prayers of a Dead Man (1992)
7. Dust 10
8. Dust 11
9. Dust 12
10. Dust 13
11. Dust 14
12. Dust 15
13. Twisted Reality (1995 Live VHS Audio)
14. Deviate (1995 Live VHS Audio)
15. Deviate (Blue Stahli Remix) [Instrumental]

I've mentioned before that Brainchild started as an actual band called Brainchild but it reissued under Circle of Dust. Well, now it gets another reissue and - as before - this is this album's final form as well. The mastering is just about perfect. There's tons of cool extras, like the new track "Contagion" and "Am I In Sync?" from the Steve Taylor tribute if you missed that (which, how could you do that, YOU MONSTER!). It even contains the original versions of "Telltale Crime," "Prayers of a Dead Man," and "Deviate" for those moods when you're really, really nostalgic. Again - this is an excellent package and well worth getting even if you have the previous versions. However...still no liner notes! Argh!

Useless Fact: Documentation seems to imply that the original Braindchild album came out in '92, but that's impossible because the first Circle album came out in '92 and Brainchild didn't come out at least until the following spring, making its release year '93. Can anyone confirm Mindwarp's actual release date?

Circle of Dust - "Circle of Dust (Remastered)"

Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust (Remastered)
1992/2016, Fixt

DISC ONE:
1. Exploration (Redux)
2. Onenemy
3. Demoralize
4. Self Inflict
5. Rational Lies
6. Nightfall
7. Twisted Reality
8. Consequence
9. Dissolved
10. Nothing Sacred
11. Parasite
12. Bed of Nails

DISC TWO:
1. Neophyte
2. Nothing Sacred (Blue Stahli Remix)
3. Onenemy (Acoustic)
4. Exploration (1992 Version)
5. Demoralize (Cassette Demo 1990)
6. Dust 01 (Cassette Demo 1989)
7. Dust 02 (Cassette Demo 1988)
8. Dust 03 (Cassette Demo 1988)
9. Dust 04
10. Dust 05
11. Dust 06
12. Dust 07
13. Dust 08
14. Dust 09
15. Nothing Sacred (Blue Stahli Remix)[Instrumental]
16. Onenemy (Acoustic) [Instrumental]

So... yeah... this makes three versions of Circle of Dust's debut album. This one is a little different, however. Klayton Scott (formerly Scott Albert - he will NOT respond to Scott, so don't call him that!) was able to acquire all the rights to ALL of the Circle of Dust albums. As such, he is remastering them in depth, including hours of bonus materials, and reissuing them. Fine by me! I have to say, this is definitely the best this album has ever sounded. If this album were a Pokemon, this edition would be its final evolution. I'm very happy to see "Exploration" back on here as that was always one of my favorite tracks. I'm also glad "Bed of Nails" is now its own track instead of being buried at the end. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, "Neophyte" is a brand new Circle of Dust track. It's awesome. There is only one problem - no liner notes! Ugh! That seems like a serious missed opportunity. I would have loved lyrics, notes by Klayton on what he did with the tracks and why, reflections from the time, pictures, etc. It could have been so awesome. Don't know why he didn't want to include a booklet. Still, even if you have the first two editions this is totally worth getting just with the excellent, ground-up remaster and sheer amount of extra tracks. Cool new cover art as well!

Useless Fact: "Technological Disguise" and "Senseless Abandon" have still been left off. Klayton must really, really hate these songs!

Circle of Dust - "Brainchild"

Circle of Dust - Brainchild

1994, REX

1. Cranial Tyrant

2. Telltale Crime

3. Prayers of a Dead Man

4. Regressor (Aggressive Mix)

5. Enshrined

6. Course of Ruin

7. Descend

8. Deviate

9. Pale Reflection

10. Aggressor (Regressive Mix)

Did you know that Circle of Dust's second album was not actually their second album? Yeah... this album actually started as a side project of Scott Albert and REX producer Doug Mann called Brainchild - the album was called Mindwarp. In '94 Scott remixed the disc and REX rereleased it to the mainstream as the second Circle of Dust album. Got it? Good. Brainchild is a lot heavier than the previous album(s) as the downtuned, chunky thrash riffs are the focus of most of the songs. It's plenty industrial too with bizarre samples of everything from Robocop 2 to Ren and Stimpy along with strange noises and beats. I remember listening to the original Brainchild album a lot and this rerelease is pretty similar.

Useless Fact: I'm told that the "Deviate" on this version is the "Sawed-off Shotgun Edit" from the Metamorphosis compilation, but I'm too lazy to verify that. Also some of these tunes were used for the MTV show MTV Sports back in the day.

Circle of Dust - "Circle of Dust"

Circle of Dust - Circle of Dust
1995, REX

1. Onenemy
2. Demoralize
3. Self Inflict
4. Rational Lies
5. Nightfall
6. Twisted Reality
7. Consequence
8. Dissolved
9. Nothing Sacred
10. Parasite
11. Bed of Nails

Did you know that this isn't actually Circle of Dust's first album? Well... sorta... let me explain. The original debut came out in 1992 but main man, Scott Albert, wasn't happy with it. So three years later the label let him rework the entire album - tossing out a few songs and adding some new ones and giving the whole thing a fresh coat of paint. I will say I miss the more electric "Exploration" but that's far from being a deal-breaker. The result speak for themselves this version is more lush, more "up front," and sounds way better than the original. The old industrial tracks are given new life and the guitars are heavier and louder. The original came out right on the coattails of another industrial band, Mortal. While Mortal was a bit more on the techno side, these guys are more on the metal side. "Bed of Nails" is buried into track 10 after several minutes of silence.

Useless Fact: Just to help you win a bar bet or two here are the songs left off the original: "Technological Disguise," "Senseless Abandon" and "Exploration." "Senseless Abandon" appeared on the REX compilation Demolition when Scott Albert fronted the metal band Immortal. Oh, and if you're ever at a bar where they bet on old Christian music trivia please let me know where it is because I'd love to hang out there!