ALBUM REVIEW: Sight To Sound – Stellar Circuits

On their sophomore record, STELLAR CIRCUITS have a mission statement: “push past the point of comfort…to make something real and honest that we can all stand by“. There is no denying the foursome’s musical chops on Sight To Sound; whether it’s confounding time signatures or fretwork requiring tap-dancing fingers, the band have constructed some labyrinthine compositions on their second full-length outing. In challenging themselves, they task listeners to keep pace across 48 minutes of jagged rhythms and genre hopping.

That mission statement acts as a North Star that sees the band rip up the rule book from the get-go. Frontman Ben Beddick raps over a TOOL-like bass line on Catch Your Death, introducing Sight To Sound as a record deliberately considered to catch you on the wrong foot. Of the writing process, Beddick speaks of “moving closer to an understanding of the perception of our senses“, considering the record to invoke a kind of synaesthesia. Expect one thing, experience another; it’s right there in the album title.

Consider lead single Witch House. A frantic low-end riff gives way to a mosh pit-friendly bounce, throat-searing screams turn into a powerful melodic hook, before Beddick’s voice shapeshifts into something manipulated and unfamiliar, all in the space of 60 seconds. As if fighting to hold dwindling attention spans, the band move from one idea to another with what feels like desperate urgency. At its best, like on Witch House, it is exhilarating. Deeper into the album, having been bombarded by every idea running through the foursome’s heads, the relentless disorientation takes a toll. On first listen, nothing is all that memorable simply because there is so much of it.

But the record reveals its treats with time. Skull Beneath The Smile has some particularly satisfying passages with Beddick’s softer approach contrasting the harshness of Jared Stamey and Jesse Olsen’s guitars. It’s in these moments they achieve that synaesthesia feeling, of combining the metallic edge with delicate vocals, where your senses are pulled in opposing directions. Similarly, drummer Tyler Menon smooths out the title track with some tasteful cymbal work, opening up breathing space that gives everyone a platform to do their own thing. The band’s blend of prog metal reaches its full potential in moments like this, where each component part sounds disjointed in isolation but comes together miraculously and harmoniously.

So it is worth giving Sight To Sound the attention it deserves, whether that is meditatively with headphones or via repeat listens until it sinks in. It isn’t just a record of four virtuosos; there is real personality across these tracks with broad appeal. Those looking for chunky guitar work, you got it. Others longing for a rhythm section worth paying attention to, put on Learning To Sleep and enjoy. If music doesn’t have enough 9/8 time for you, here you go.

In pushing past the point of comfort, STELLAR CIRCUITS’ ambition occasionally gets in the way of accessibility. Give it time, as all records deserve, and moments to latch on find their way to the surface. Mission accomplished.

Rating: 7/10

Sight To Sound is set for release on June 9th via Nuclear Blast Records.

Like STELLAR CIRCUITS on Facebook.