Circle Takes the Square
As the Roots Undo



by Matt USER (4 Reviews)
September 26th, 2006 | 18 replies

Release Date: 2004 | Tracklist

Review Summary: One of the best albums I have heard in a long time done by one of the best bands i've heard in quite a while. Everyone should take a listen to ctts as they are a truely amazing and different band.

Circle Takes the Square is a screamo/post-hardcore band formed in 2000 with 4 members. Ctts is like no other band you have problably ever heard before, they are very unique and have many good songs. They have both a male and female vocalist which clash vocals together to produce great music. Another thing that ctts is good for is they're lyrics which sounds very "poetic" and match the 'epic' genre perfectly. All that being said let's move on to the songs.

The intro starts with whistling which and then afterabout 10 seconds a chanting (which sounds like "rejoice rejoice") comes into the background of the whistling which then leads into the second track.

Same Shade As Concrete:
The beggining starts off loud and fast and dosen't stop until after a little while in the song when everything drops and the lyrics "wade in the water" repeat for a while which eventually ends up building up and going more and more fast, then a humming is added to the background which is heard until the end of song. The end of the song is very fast and just puts everything into place making this a really good song.

The song starts off with the lyrics "Nothing's so lucid as a promise of dreams but these pills we found just make me sleep." This song by far has some of the the best lyrics on this album and good instrumental, however I could never get into it as much as the other songs on this album. The song goes on for a while and at the very ending they keep chanting "Whispers invoke" Until it leads into the next song.

In The Nervous Light Of Sunday:
This song was also seen on ctts's ep album but I feel that this version is much better then that of the ep version. The song starts out pretty fast and continues with good beats and amazing vocal talent until it all slows down for a while well they repeat the same lyrics, the song builds up and goes faster until the very end of this song. All and all this is an amazing song and much better then the other version.

Interview At The Ruins:
This song starts off with what sounds to be digging or chains being dragged and then music comes into the background which builds up until the vocals come up. At first this song is realy fast-paced and heavy but then goes quiet into an interview, (the words to what they in the interview part can be found on ctts's myspace.) Then the vocals come back into play still very quiet until near the end there is a guitar solo and they end the song repeating "A murmer from the ruins echoes softly as the roots undo"

Non-Objective Portrait of Karma:
This song has a very long build up to it in the beggining and is focusing a lot on the instrumental side of there work. It keeps going at the same pace for a bit until it speeds up more and more and more instruments come into play until the vocals come in which also keeps building up until it all breaks out and the music and vocals go fast. This song as well as crowquill has amazing lyrics and is very well paced. After a little while everything slows down again and the lines "Let the starving ghosts feast from this flesh from these bones" repeat until it goes fast again until the end of the song.

Kill The Switch:
This song starts out fast and stays that way for a little bit. Everything is perfect in the beggining and the music, vocals and bass are at there best. The song eventually get's more quiet and some music is added to the background for a bit until the vocals start up again. It stays at a real good pace and everything is just amazing, however at some times this song can seem to be rather 'repetative'. Close to the end they repeat the lines "life is lowly anonymity" which leads to the end of the song which is one of the most epic endings on the album and leaves you with the last track on the album.

A Crater To Cough In:
The last track on the album and it is deffinitly a good track to end it with. This song can be most related to 'Non Objective Portrait Of Karma' with it's epic build up in the beggining. The music in the begginging get's more 'intense' after a while until it goes real fast and then slows down dramatically, it goes on until the vocals come out with the opening lines "This path that we walk upon is the collection of points that the rain has drawn" This song has amazing drums, base and vocals. The song is one of the best on the album with some amazing lyrics and a great epic ending to it. Like I said "a great way to finish the album"

After hearing this album I would have to say this is a very epic and emotional album, the lyrics are amazing as well as vocals and drums. Anyone who is into the screamo/post-hardcore genre's should deffinitly give this album a listen because it dosen't dissapoint, the only bad thing to this album is there isn't all that many songs but still the songs that are there are amazing!

Recommend songs:
-Same Shade As Concrete
-Interview At The Ruins
-A Crater To Cough In

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Comments:Add a Comment 
September 26th 2006


This album is currently #1 on my want list.
Pretty good review for a first, but I suggest putting a little more information into the song descriptions. A track-by-track is fine, but after you start reviewing more, you will see that an overall review of the album works better.

September 26th 2006


Album Rating: 3.0

Not a bad track by track review but it would be much more efficient if you added more then just one sentence to your closing paragraph.

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Words like "amazing" and "great" don't describe the sound at all. If I hadn't heard this album, this review wouldn't have helped me one bit to understand what it might sound like.

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 5.0

123 to the obese gentleman. Oh and Im currently bent on what I should rate this album. There are times when I absolutely cant get enough of it, but others when it just grates on me. Im probably one of the only human beings who finds City of Caterpillar easier to listen to than these guysThis Message Edited On 09.27.06

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

You only gave Crowquill, Karma and Kill the Switch not a 5. Then again, I'd give all the songs 5, except Intro and Interview. But yes, this needs a stronger conclusion.

Oh and fix up on the grammar.This Message Edited On 09.27.06

September 27th 2006


"Crowquill" is easily the worst song on this album.

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

I love Crowquill.

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 4.5

I never liked crowquill as much as the other songs. And i'll add more to the conclusion to make it abit better

Brain Dead
September 27th 2006


Ctts is like no other band you have problably ever heard before

Oh man, I hate seeing that. I know it's your first review, but please don't say stuff like that, because its rarely ever true. Perhaps it's justifiable in a few rare cases, but not here.

September 27th 2006


Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Eh, despite the fact CTTS is prolly the most popular emo band on sputnik (and one of the more popular ones overall), that statement still holds weight. It's still not nice to see in a review, but I think it could be justified here. I don't think many people are listening to city of caterpillar who havent heard ctts =/.

November 17th 2006


Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Kill the Switch is the easiest 5 on here.

February 16th 2008


I'm torn between 4.5 and 5.

August 19th 2008


I'm not a big fan of the screamo/post-hardcore genre normally, but what can I say? This album did something for me that others in the genre just haven't.

June 23rd 2010


Album Rating: 2.0

i love you all

June 23rd 2010


Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

wait isnt this a joke review

June 23rd 2010


Album Rating: 5.0

no it isn't

June 23rd 2010


Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

oh shit

August 31st 2011


Album Rating: 4.0





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