The Nine Circles Audio Thing

By now, everyone knows that Buke has his mind in many different places and for this episode of The Nine Circles Audio Thing he chats with Randy " The Cheap Audio Man " on how he helps folks like you and me find the best bang for the buck when it comes to hifi, home theater, and headphones which is something we all can use seeing as pricing for the high end stuff is oftentimes out of reach and we a...

Yes, we're a wee bit late, but who's really keeping track here? Chris and Dan are back for their annual recap of the best in NOT-metal . And as you're all well aware, "NOT-metal" can cast a pretty wide net. We've got entries from the worlds of R&B, jazz, country-pop and even prog here for you to sink your teeth into. (And others! Lots of others!) So grab a few beverages and jump on in -- you'll ne...

Wilderun has long been a favorite of Buke and Nine Circles so at the mention of new album Epigone ( Century Media ) it was a slam dunk to get vocalist, keyboardist, guitarist, and mandolin player Evan Berry on to chat about all things Epigone . This is the fourth full length from the band and consequently their most fully fleshed out effort and not to mention their, quite possibly, best to date. T...

David Stepanavicius of Atræ Bilis is no stranger to the podcast as he and Buke discussed Apexapien ( 20 Buck Spin ) at length back in November and it was such an electric discussion that Buke reached back out to have David on again to discuss all things Best of 2021 . The two catch up a bit since last time then launch into their biggest disappointments of 2021, their Honorable Mentions, and their...

List season. It's like Christmas every day of December and some of January where we get to regale the best metal that 2021 had to offer. It's a time to catch up and find things you slept on or had no idea came out but also a time to raise hell over picks and placements, ahhh good times. Buke wrangled Ian, Vince, Hera, and Angela to discuss their individual top three of 2021, picks of albums that w...

Through his projects, Haunt and Beastmaker , and intense work ethic, Trevor Church has become a household name for heavy metal fans and enthusiasts. Particularly if Bandcamp is part of said fans' daily visits. The discography between just these two projects is staggering and the speed in which he releases new music is astounding. With new album Unplugged Vol. 1 , Trevor shows a side we haven't hea...

Episode 102 is upon us! After an extended time away, Chris and Dan rejoin Lord Goldenvoice himself, Buke, for a rousing, back-and-forth-and-back-again discussion of their "desert island picks" -- the albums they'd want to be their Wilsons if ever stranded in the South Pacific. (Or South Atlantic. Or maybe even Indian. We don't discriminate here.)  In any case, the crew -- henceforth to be known as...

For Imperial Triumphant and extreme metal fans around the globe, Vile Luxury was a statement of avantgarde supremacy of the like none of us have ever seen and follow up Alphaville twisted that blade in even deeper. Their sound is the heartbeat of their home base New York City in the sense of its roots in jazz and the extremities found at every corner and perfectly encapsulates every aspect of day...

Time sure does fly but don't worry - the episode opens with what everyone was listening to for September, except for Hera, who talks about an album back in May.  That's how we roll, folks!  Then it's onto current matters with Anton reaching for Gloire Éternelle by First Fragment ( Unique Leader ).   It's an interesting choice for the team, with staunch tech death advocates on one side of the house...

Vancouver's Atræ Bilis made quite the splash with last year's EP Divinihility and nearly overnight made them a household name in any house that heralds death metal. A quick year later here we are with their debut full length Apexapien and they prove the success of that EP was no joke. From start to finish, this album is an absolute beast with teeth big enough to tear the planet in two. It hits har...

Your Time To Shine ( Relapse Records ) is Monolord 's fifth full length release since exploding onto the doom metal scene back in 2014 with their excellent debut Empress Rising . To say their rise in this genre has been anything other than meteoric would be an atrocity, and even including 'rise' in that statement is misleading since their debut captured fans from across the globe and landed on man...

The Edge of Existence ( eOne ) is Texas based Creeping Death 's third EP, but follows from their bludgeoning 2019 full length Wretched illusions . Death metal had no idea what it was in for when this band formed and called it its own. Their sound is immediately violent yet has a groovy, melodic edge to it that makes for fast kinship amongst fans of metal far beyond just death metal. Reviews came f...

No doubt you know how this works by now...team members take turns picking their favorite album from a given month and for August 2021, it was a shoe in for Deafheaven 's Infinite Granite ( Sargent House ) across the board. And, while no one on staff disagreed, not everyone was on the exact same page. Since 2010, Deafheaven have yet to make the same album twice or even close to the same album. The...

With seventh full length, Primordial Arcana ( Relapse Records ), Wolves In The Throne Room literally have nothing else to prove to anyone. They make their brand of atmospheric black metal for themselves and their own spirits and have gained a massive following since their inception in 2002 due to their extremely nature inspired and spiritually grounded music and the feeling surrounding each releas...

Later this month, progressive / technical death metallers Rivers of Nihil will drop their fourth full length, The Work ( Metal Blade Records ), and by all accounts this album will be a crowning achievement for them as well as their fans and fans of extreme metal in general. 2018's Where Owls Know My Name really blew the lid off for them and received mountains of praise, as it should have. The Work...

Burial In The Sky 's third full length The Consumed Self ( Rising Nemesis Records ) is an absolute beast of progressive and technical death metal that easily stands out from the crowd with its clarity, punch, and originality. And, it blasts past their last two albums even though both of those were no slouches. This one is the culmination of all their hard work to date and should, by all accounts,...

No doubt you know how this works by now...team members take turns picking their favorite album from a given month and for July 2021, Cat (Hera) yelled the loudest over Year Of No Light 's Consolamentum ( Pelagic Records ).  And, based on their heavy history, no one on staff disagreed. Since 2001, Year Of No Light have been churning out some of the heaviest post-metal by way of sludge, doom, and dr...

Between the Buried and Me have blazed their own path  and done things their own way now for some twenty years and change. So with a pandemic raging and nothing much else to do, they decided to record the follow up to their 2007 opus Colors , lovingly titled Colors II ( Sumerian Records ). Whether you go the Wikipedia route and call it new wave polka grunge or the band's route and call it adult con...

Allegaeon has fast become a household name in the tech death metal arena, and for good reason. Their last album Apoptosis ( Metal Blade Records ) was a beacon in the tech-melodic-death-metal arena and placed the band on the same wavelength as the giants in this genre. And maybe even head and shoulders above their competition. Eye of the beholder sort of thing, obviously, but these dudes are the re...

You know how this works...team members take turn picking their favorite each month and this month was technically a landslide between the 9C members joining and the others not able to due to life and whatever else got in the way. De Doorn from Amenra is the band's fifth full length and first for new label Relapse Records who scooped them up on the strength of their discography, and what a strong d...

Gwar is an absolute metal institution and one that has stood the test of time for 37 years strong. They've done things their own way and have carved their own path from the word go and have been inspiration to so many bands since their 1984 start and to be clear, not many bands can lay claim to as many accolades as Gwar is worthy of. Fuckin' legends, is what I'm saying. If anyone needs an intro to...

Beyond Creation have become a giant in the tech death arena since forming in 2005 (under a different moniker) and, have done this with just three full lengths which is impressive to say the least. Beyond that, the band has a progressive side as well that went full tilt on their last album Algorythm ( Season of Mist ). Now, they've paired with Vox and Hops Brewtal North America and Overhop for a st...

Thy Catafalque hold the great distinction of simply sounding like no other band out there.   Hot off the heels  of their stunning 2020 release Naiv comes Vadak (Season of Mist) , and it's no secret to say the entire 9C crew is in the bag for more twisting songs that break genre convention yet maintain a level of heaviness that will induce even the most discerning of metalheads to thrash with aband...

Majestic Downfall trade in some epic doom that stretches and luxuriates in melancholic surges of blood and tears. Aorta ( Personal Records ) is their latest testament to the power of the morose, and it's a feat of stirring arrangements, mournful melodies, and a bass sound that burrows under your skin and lays its eggs deep in the flesh. It touches on the classic 90s era of the scene without mimick...

With Migration ( Deathwish Inc. ), Bossk are only on their second full length since forming in 2005, give or take little, but that hasn't stopped them from being one of the heaviest bands in post-metal this side of Amenra. There, we said it. And, it's true. Migration is chock full of mood, atmosphere, and plain old heaviness...the kind you could hammer hot steel with. It's also an overall better a...