Los Angeles’s Red Sparowes is currently taking a break from recording to play a few shows along the West Coast, supported by Russian Circles.  Both bands have albums due out later this year, and are taking the opportunity to debut several new songs for lucky fans. 

Red Sparowes’s still-untitled album apparently will veer away from the bleak, emotionally-heavy themes of than 2006’s "Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun," and back towards the lighter territory of their debut, "At The Soundless Dawn."  Though the band’s typical ultra-long song titles haven’t yet been made public for the new album, imagery on the band’s video projection during the show featured star-filled skies and undulating jellyfish.  Contrast this with the fiery explosions and political imagery displayed during songs from "Every Red Heart…" and you get some idea of where the new album may be headed.  The typical epic Red Sparowes sound is of course still present, with intricate guitar arrangements forming layers of melody and atmosphere, but once again the band appears to be taking their sound in a new direction.  If the early versions are any indication, the new material will be at least as powerful and captivating as anything from the last two albums.

Russian Circles have only one album to draw from, so their set naturally contained even more new material than that of Red Sparowes.  "Stations" will come out May 6th, and judging from the songs they performed live, the level of aggression in the songs is a notch above the sound on 2006’s "Enter."  You can get a taste of the new album via the track ‘Harper Lewis,’ currently available on Russian Circles’s MySpace page. 

Fans of the new wave of post-rock/metal/sludge bands (Neurosis, ISIS, Pelican, Rosetta, etc.) will should definitely plan to catch these guys on tour if possible.  Russian Circles puts on a flawless and surprisingly heavy show, especially considering that they play as a 3-piece live.  Red Sparows features a huge video projection to accompany their songs, Neurosis-style (guitarist Josh Graham is the guy who does Neurosis’s visuals, go figure).  Remaining dates are:

3/26: San Francisco @ Bottom of the Hill
3/27: Los Angeles @ Echoplex
3/28: San Diego @ Casbah
3/29: Phoenix @ the Brickhouse