Customer Reviews

Disengage

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sadly the last album under the Circle of Dust name, but what a reign it was that Klay Scott held in what really is one of the preeminent underground industrial acts of all time. Klank is gone, leaving Klay by himself to bring his singular vision of mechanical ambience to life in what truly is the best Circle of Dust release.

The previous releases showcased Scott's penchant for blending random samples from various film and tv sources with atmospheric and aggressive soundscapes. While the 1995 rerelease of the original album was a major improvement, it was still lacking in musical quality. "Brainchild" heralded such greats as the violent thrasher "Deviate," "Telltale Crime," and the "Agressor/Regressor" mixes. Now we have the final album "Disengage."

This album is excellent. More than that, it is the perfect industrial album. The electronics are pulsing, the melodies infectious, and the songs aggressive but personal. Did I mention melody? That is what sets this album apart from the past Circle of Dust releases. Without losing its anarchic underground edge, there is a sense of solid song structures that are approachable and listenable. This album is still heavy on the samples, but even with "Brainchild"'s seamless fusion, it is hard to imagine this album without them.

"Chasm" and "Refractor" not only bear resemblence to past Circle of Dust, but the blending of the two in the single remixes attached as the second half of the CD is done with an ingenuity that Trent Reznor should be envious of. "Mesmerized" is a very poignant song that is both edgy and somehow radio friendly. It is by far my favorite song on the album. "Waste of Time," "Yurasuka," and "Blindeye" are great headbangers that not only possess driving rhythms and electronic ambience, but also contain elements of hip-hop vocalisation. And then there are the three instrumentals, "Babylon," "Thulcandra," and "Perelandra." While the latter two are similar in an atmosphere of decrepit imagery (they would not have been out of place on the "Quake" soundtrack), "Babylon" has a melodious horror that sends shivers down the spine of the listener, giving the feeling of being trapped in the wasteland of babylon.

Basically, this album possesses something for everybody. There's lyrical genius, musical excellence, and industrial mayhem to go with it. "Disengage" is perhaps the best album ever to bear the label of industrial music, and is certainly an excellent closer to this chapter in Klay Scott's seemingly schizophrenic career (remember he produced Prong and Klank, and goes under many pseudonyms, including Argyle Park, and his current project Celldweller). May this CD find its ways to the ears of industrial music fans everywhere. Truly a great album that should not go ignored.

A while ago a good friend of mine(Hi Hannah :) ) told me about Circle Of Dust. Being the chaotic person that I am I forgot about it until I saw this CD at the store today. I remembered the name and I decided to give it a listen. 10 minutes later I left the store with my brand-new Circle Of Dust CD.

What I like a lot about this album is that there's lots of electronic stuff going on and it is all really in your face unlike what I found with a lot of other industrial acts. Very aggressive. The guitars blend in really well too.

I heard that this is in fact a Christian band/artist. Well I must say that this is a welcome change then. These lyrics reflect realistic views and aren't naive praises to God while ignoring/turning-a-blind-eye-on real emotion and real life. Life isn't all 'happy happy joy joy' stuff. More Christian artists should take note of this.

Anyway, This is a very good CD. Nice and dark without dumb oo-look-how-evil-I-am lyrics.

I must say that I also love the remixes. Remixes are good(if done well) :)

In closing: If you like industrial music check this out. Even if you aren't Christian. And if you are and allready have this cd check out some non-christian industrial as well. NiN, Cubanate or :WUMPSCUT: for example. Harshness won't polute your beliefs. They don't for me. And heck I even listen to Black Metal. Be true to yourself and be good now :) bubye -Nephilim

This is freakin' amazing stuff. I've been following this 'band' for 8 years now and have all their releases. This is the best. Not as heavy as Brainchild (Mindwarp - whatever) as far as guitars go, but that aint a bad thing (Darren Dialosa's guitar style tends to make me fell sick after a while...). This is also totally superior to their first release (the VERY first one - I have not heard it since it was redone), but then if you have their very first release, Klay Scott asks you kindly to BURN IT!

When I listen to this music, I can only hate the man - he does almost EVERYTHING himself! Guitar, drums programming, keyboards, production... I do not know of a more musically talented person alive on this planet today!

In general, Disengage eased up on the guitars and sampling and elaborated more on the electronica side. The result is intense, delicate but hard-hitting. This is an emotional man with the skill to unleash his anger, frustration and disappointment. The whole album is tainted with cynicism and sadness, but songs like Mesmerize will nearly make you cry.

As to the content. Do not come looking for spiritual upliftment here if you are only interested in C.O.D bcoz they're "Christian". Scott's experienced disappointment in his Christian life, something only he knows all about and he doesn't disclose too much info on the subject either but it is all on Disengage. Give the man a break. Some of us feel pain more deeply than others. When someone can express this in a medium as well as Klay can, we all get to enjoy the creation of pure, refined human talent. I will be sad, however, if Klay Scott really has chosen to 'disengage'.

Get hold of this cd if you can.

Trent Reznor kicked ass. Klay Scott (A.K.A. Circle of Dust) will completely annihilate you. This album is an industrial masterpiece. The instrumentals are very reminiscent of Reznor's "Quake" score, only so much better. The combination of "Refractor" and "Chasm" in the single remixes during the last seven tracks of the album is interesting and innovative. This music takes everything that KMFDM, Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Marilyn Manson only attempt to do and amplifies it into a soundscape of heavy metal industrial mayhem. Put simply, this is the best industrial album of all time. I will still listen to Nine Inch Nails and KMFDM, but before them, I will stick "Disengage" into my CD player and crank the volume up. This album will destroy your perceptions of industrial music.

This album really is an industrial masterpiece. I remember the first time I heard it, I was taken a bit back because my friend ordered it from a christian cd club. Needless to say it doesn't sound like your typical Third Day drivel.

Most of the tracks have a haunting post-apocylaptic type atmosphere to it that really draws you into it. But Klay Scott (Circle of Dust) knew how to combine this with incredibly catchy lyrics one of the reasons for all the high praise. Listen to Refractor a few times and try and get it out of your head. Definately easier said then done. =) To sum it up, this CD is highly recommended for fans of industrial music or more open minded rock fans, I would say it is the best of Klay Scott's discography.

There are very few of these types of albums- the ones in which an artist has totally mastered their style. Circle of Dust's Disengage is not only the best Circle of Dust album, but easily as good as any other album I've ever heard. Like Trent Reznor (probably the one most similar to him music-wise), Klay started out with a somewhat cloned sound and a batch of decently written but somewhat samey songs. His first album was kind of like Pretty Hate Machine with more aggression and guitars, in my opinion and was 3 stars or so. I don't have Brainchild, but it seem Ministry-esque to me. This is the equivalent of 'The Fragile' for Klay Scott. All the melodies on here all beautiful and memorable, and you wouldn't believe how much harmony and such he adds to it. The songs are so smoothly constructed that on first listen it almost seemed like one instrument. I definitely agree with another reviewers assessment of this CD as having a 'dark blue mood'. An impulse buy that's worth your time, period. I couldn't have been more happy with it.

In Circle of Dust's last CD, Klay Scott shows his incredible talent.
So many industrial CD's are good, but the whole time you listen you feel like something is missing. "Disengage," is one of the few "full" albums as I call it. Every song leaves the listener feeling like nothing else could be added. Every instrument is played strong and incredibly, including instruments that come from the mind of Klay Scott.
It's a shame CD's like this are overlooked while people like Trent Reznor put out albums of less quality and sell millions.
It's sad to see the era of Cirlce of Dust come to an end, but this CD left us with a beautiful ending.

I've been listening to Circle of Dust for a while now and I recommend you get this CD. For he decided to disband Circle of Dust. Although I don't want to be associated with Christianity (nor does Klay Scott for that matter). I think this is a MUST have. The instrumentation is a lot weaker compared to his "Brainchild" and self-titled releases. Mainly due to that fact that Darren "Klank" Diolosa left C.o.D. But he keeps Circle of Dust alive with his catchy instrumentation and lyrics. If you like Circle of Dust, then check out these sites: dusted.com (Circle of Dust official site), worldofillusion.com (Angeldust official site), celldweller.com (Celldweller offical site), members.aol.com/vinsanityx/insanity.htm (Virtual Insanity rare cd site)

+AH4-Another excellent CD from Circle of Dust. Their earlier CD's (ie. Brainchild) were metal with a bit of techno in it. One of their newer CD's (ie. Circle of Dust '95) was about even on both, a good mix of metal and techno. Disengage is following this pattern getting more into techno and less guitar. An excellent CD any way you look at it. Unfortunetly, Circle of Dust has broken up, so get this CD quick. I hope to see more excellent music from Klay and Chris on their new CD+AH4-+AH4- "AngelDust"

I was very turned on by the intensity of the music on this cd. Klay Scott is what i'd call the alternative to Trent Reznor. He is a musical genious much like Trent is and this cd is ample proof of this claim. I like how the tracks can either be danceable or hard enough to be headbanger-worthy. This is easily one of the best industrial albums to ever be released. On the album's highlight, ''Chasm'', Klay's vocals are attached to a highly catchy Rammstein-like riff. The price of the album is worth it just for that track alone. Also, on ''Mesmerize'', An unexpectedly slower track on the cd, Klay shows that he can even carry a slower song and make it sound good. ''Mesmerize'' almost rivals ''Chasm'' for the album's best track. ''Waste Of Time'', ''Chasm [The remix]'', ''You Are Fragile'', and ''Yurasuka'' are also all seriously banging tracks. With its dark apocalyptic sounds, I'm very greatful to have been able to find this cd as this is a quite superior industrial effort. In the midst of all the fun on this album, I must say that my only beef with the album is that there a few weak tracks that could've been left off here [What's the point of ''Deadly Love''? It's only like 30 seconds long and it never gets started!] However, A word of warning: Christian music fans who'll inevitably buy this cd because of the christian label on it should be forewarned that you will not find any of the usual christian content on this cd that you come to expect to hear on a christian cd. In fact, When this album was made, Klay made it perfectly clear in an HM Magazine interview [This interview can be read in its entirety on the internet] that he's very bitter against the church for the way he's been treated [As evidenced in some of the photos on the inside cover of this album] and he's also very bitter against the christian music industry as a whole [Pretty much because of how he was screwed around by the now-defunct R.E.X. Records]. If you can get past those things, You should have an easy time enjoying this album. Reccomended strictly for fans of Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Gravity Kills, Filter, and Stabbing Westward.