Ciril – Sick Surreal

Written by: ZRG
Artist Link
Country:
Label: Know Records
Genre:  Goth/Post-punk/Post-industrial

Tracklisting:

01 Full Of Salt
02 Wash Of The Hand
03 Torching Deceit
04 Burning Heart Stops
05 Wardrobe Of White
06 Back Home
07 Time Is Running Out
08 Your Lips
09 Hell Fell Down Again
10 Henrietta’s Had It

Ciril are/were? a band from Long Beach, CA. They produced 2 albums and a one sided album before this, Ciril were defined by their claustrophobic explosive brand of hardcore/post punk hybrid. All of their records up to this point have been very strong; the second album Hysteria Driven is an absolute work of greatness. Despite a great output they remain a mystery known for only playing around the Los Angeles area. Commercial ambition sacrificed for musical ambition.

Sick Surreal was made before they broke up. Things Begin with Full of Salt which presents a more spacious dynamic to the key Ciril sound. The sound is filled well by the rhythm section which a lot heavier than before. Things are not as manic and immediate as before, the wider sound allows impressive interplay between the vocals of Darrin Hall and Kyle Chew. Wash of the Hand opens with a manic phone recording the vocals are even more impressive than before. A post punk guitar searches for itself before breaking into an explosive riff. Both vocals loose the plot and explore spirituality as only the demented can.

Torching Deceit exhibits restraint and release at the same time, vocals work brilliantly. Burning Stops and Wardrobe of White is Ciril indulging in Hardcore madness within the new sound. Back Home brings things down to a bluesy skiffle with organ. This works well and is an exciting shift in sound that Time is Running Out continues, a more acoustic/undistorted old Americana type twang works with both vocals. There’s some demented soloing on both tracks. There’s an interesting juxtaposition of styles in Back Home and Time is Running Out, which is exciting to hear, the two differing vocal styles over lighter arrangements, shredded up by the solos.

Your Lips revels in a tribal stomp with further dementia, before exploding and returning to demented tribal again. This is similar to the methods used on the first album Ciril but demonstrates a more impressive restraint and musicianship. Hell Fell Down Again is sheer ‘classic American Hardcore follow through’ where a band doesn’t allow the mood of a song to disappear, but pulls it through with more to the next song. This is usually a technique used in the first two tracks of an album, not so far in. Circle Jerks were great at this, Black Flag never did it on record but were masters of doing it live. Henrieta’s Had It is a really long track, which I believe has a vocal duet between Darrin Hall, Kyle Chew and Gitane Demone. It seems like a long poem over a slower backing with a lot of soloing and aggressive noisy keyboard work, the sort of thing Eyeless In Gaza did on their first album. The music melts into a pile of feedback slugging and soloing across a rhythm with Gitane left alone on top of all this.

There’s a long gap between Ciril’s earlier output and Sick Surreal. The development shows a band demonstrating change in their sound. It has excellent musicianship and production, the vocal interplay/dynamic between Chew and Hall is impressive. To end this review Ciril were in their earlier days often said to be influenced by Rudimentary Peni and Christian Death, on here they are not, they are Ciril. They have stepped away from their influences and they have made what could be seen as their own Cacophony or Catastrophe Ballet (a different classic following a classic). Ciril have gone somewhere else and achieved impressive results.