Circle of Dust
Disengage (Flying Tart)
by Scott Hefflon
In the self-imposed isolation of cyberland, there are many lords. Devotees, both quiet souls who practice in the solitude of their own homes and flamboyant “heretics” dancing themselves silly in the throes of possession, choose who they follow, who they worship, and which gods they deem false icons. Personally, I’ve always felt a strong attachment to Circle of Dust (aka Klay Scott). Despite the infrequency of miracles (the last release, ’95’s Circle of Dust, was actually a re-recording of the ’92 release of the same name, and before that was Brainchild in ’94), I’ve maintained faith in Him. And now, finally, CoD perform another “water-into-wine” spectacle, so mortals such as I have something to point to when praising our lords (shallow little humans, aren’t we?).
Clocking in at just over an hour, Disengage exceeds previous expectations on all fronts. The chorus of “Refractor” is as catchy as a cold, but there’s no snot dribbling down your face. And with lines like, “Sweet refractor I’m indebted to you/for your need in choosing me to be the one to subdue/I’ve so much to think of when a push comes to shove/b/c I know it’s easier to hate than love” it’d be a natural reaction. Ranging from NIN-isms (that’s a huge compliment, and one I use sparingly) and pre-Gilt Machines of Loving Grace lyrical bite, Klay not only writes sublime soundscapes, he uses words as a weapon as well. And the soundbites in “Blindeye” from the closing scenes of Swimming with Sharks only add to my respect for Klay (and help a song that, without the quotes, teeters dangerously toward the ambiguous nonsense of the false prophets/hot-aired sloganeers). But Klay doesn’t need the easily-identifiable trinketry and flashy imagery of the fledgling gods (although the dark images in the CD booklet, www.dusted.com website, and his affiliation with partner/illusionist, Criss Angel, working under the name Angeldust, might lead one to believe that to be the case), he just happens to be, ahem, an artist working in a variety of mediums.
From experimental/ambient/avant noise to ripping, guitar-driven material complete with distorted vocals, to the throbbing percussion of hard dance music, Disengage speaks in many tongues (not to be confused with a novice’s smattering of this and that in order to impress the impressionable). Lending further to Klay’s credibility is his pseudonymial work, Argyle Park and Brainchild (both on R.E.X. Records), and programming, production, and re-mixing for artists such as Prong (including the track on the Misfits tribute), Klank, Living Sacrifice, and Chatterbox, not to mention writing the opening theme to MTV Sports. The most impressive of Klay’s talents, to me, is his ability to sing, really sing, in such a touchingly human voice (beautifully harmonized in verses and left strong and solo during the chorus, instead of the other way around) on top of a pulsing beat (littered with the “extraneous” percussive knick-knacks Trent’s so famous for) and punctuated by grinding guitars (that, for a change, don’t stink of KMFDM or Ministry) and vocal snarls (think building tension, not Metallica-esque “Where are my key-zzzzah!”). Tracks 11-16 are alternate versions (labeled as a bonus disc called RefractorChasm, tracks listed as 1.1-1.6), and may be of great interest to those who take an interest in that sort of thing. I must confess a love of repeatedly playing the 36-second-long “Deadly Love (Censored Version).” It’s a variation of the chorus (quoted above) sung in a breathy, Delta-Blues-in-Cyberspace (picture the scene in Crossroads when the devil’s a’comin’) style. Maddening and beautiful.
