Finally back in stock after being out of print for several years, the Tumult edition of Circle's 1999 masterpiece Andexelt captures one of the

band's most intoxicating albums with the addition of a bonus track that makes this a crucial addition to any Circle fans collection. By now Circle has racked

up an impressive following here in the US, both though cloaking their band in a healthy amount of mystery and mysticism, and by delivering album after album

of ever-evolving hypno rock mastery that constantly takes on new shapes and guises while remaining true to their core sound, that of the repetitious riff

twisted into circular shapes and played to infinity. But for me at least, it was Andexelt that first introduced me to the band's sound, and I

remember being completely captivated by their music the first time I heard it. Heavy and hypnotic, totally mesmerizing and unquestionably rockin',

Andexelt's nine tracks took simple, catchy riffs, ghostly flutes and thick vintage synthesizers and wrapped 'em around an array of clockwork

staccato drum patterns. Bits of gorgeous underwater dub, deep-space lounge jazz, heavy metal chuggery, and post-rock mesh together, as Circle's modernized

krautrock fuses with vaguely Zeuhl/Magma-esque prog. Imagine a heavier, weirder Neu! or Can with huge drumming, or maybe a more stripped-down Loop with

bursts of angular metallic riffing, and cosmic ambience. Simply amazing. This is the album that turned me into a ravenous Circle fan, and I can't think of a

better place for someone to start if they haven't heard Circle yet. The bonus track "Friitalan Nahka" is no mere add-on either; not appearing on the original

Finnish release, this is a sprawling 18 minute drone freakout, the first half filled with growling electronics and soaring space synths streaking across the

night sky, the second half blasting into a throbbing kosmiche kraut-metal trance straight from the heavens. Highly recommended.