Plunder the Tombs: Into a Circle – Assassins (Abstract Records, 1988)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Into a Circle – Assassins (Abstract Records, 1988)

Formed by Bee (aka: Paul Hampshire) and Barry Jepson escaping from the short-lived Getting the Fear (in itself formed from the ashes of Southern Death Cult) in 1985, Into a Circle never really attained the recognition they deserved. Sometimes known as In Two a Circle, or even In2a0, Assassins was the only full length album they ever recorded, ostensibly released in 1988 but in actuality, most of the material on here was recorded several years earlier. The re-released CD on Cherry Red’s Goth Collectors Series is worth owning as it includes all the duo’s singles as bonus tracks and so apart from a few B-sides effectively represents everything Into a Circle ever officially released. The often extremely frank liner notes on the re-release are also worthwhile, providing detailed and often explicit insights into the motivations underlying the pair’s music.

The Rise single (1985)

The topics that fascinated Into a Circle orbited largely around the philosophies and writings of Brion Gysin & William Burroughs, incorporating alternative sexualities (“Under Mikhail”, “Flow”), S&M (“Tender Skin”, “Rise”), drugs ("O’Siren", "And In Flames") and religion (“Allah Akhbar” – itself originally a song from the Getting the Fear period). A heady mix, that in less talented hands could easily have produced a sensationalist and bombastic assault. In the hands of Into a Circle however, Assassins emerges as a beautiful and highly introspective piece of hugely under-rated Goth with backing vocals provided by Rose McDowall of Strawberry Switchblade.

Things couldn’t be sustained however, drugs and an already difficult relationship with Abstract Records exacerbated by the duo insisting on total control over all aspects of music, production and artwork saw Into a Circle implode. Barry now works as a tour manager in the UK and Bee relocated to

Thailand

where he works in various electro bands including Futon & Goo with former Suede drummer Simon Gilbert.

For punters not content with Assassins, a live bootleg (2^nd generation cassette) is available for free download.

Track listing:

Beneath Mikhail
Over & Over
The Swinging Tree
‘elim
Forever
Allah Akhbar
Tender Skin
Evergreen
Assassins
Seraphim Twin

Bonus tracks on the 2008 Cherry Red re-release:

O’Siren
Inside out
Reward
Flow
Forever (remix)
Evergreen (remix)
Rise
And In Flames

Lineup: Bee (vocals), Barry Jepson (guitar & bass), Rose McDowall (backing vocals), various uncredited session musicians.

http://www.myspace.com/intoacircle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_A_Circle

http://www.archive.org/details/in2aO1987-03-18..flac16

1 comment:

Harry WaveApril 1, 2016 at 9:17 PM
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A Welcome and Introduction

Plunder the Tombs was started back in 2010 by way of looking back on a musical past that I felt in sore need of curation.

It was a strange and sad time when what passed for “Goth” in clubs seemed a pale imitator of what once was, following first a decade of cookie-cutter Sisters of the Nephilim clone bands and then another decade of industrial dance being palmed off to younger audiences as a type of faux goth. When on rare occasion DJs in “Goth” clubs did finally become brave enough to play something like Bauhaus it was not untypical to have the dance floor clear, and it became obvious that the memory, meaning and legacy of much that had gone before had been lost.

It’s probably safe to say that the boundaries of what was “Goth” were never clearly defined. An absolute blessing for those bands on the original scene before it had a name pinned to the donkey, but an outright curse for those who came later and found rules had been imposed to dictate that which was and that which was not acceptable. Worse still was to come in the 90s from a lazy and unquestioning media who simply assumed that anything that wore black and make up was by definition “Goth”, thus allowing all manner of pretenders licence, and maximising confusion as to what the term actually referred to.

This has gone on for way too long and its time is at an end. Neo Post-Punk bands now proliferate across Europe, old long dead Goth bands rise from their crypts in the UK, and new deathrock bands are breeding like rabbits up the west coast of America. It is time to reclaim our scene back from metal bands and ravers in disguise.

While the Plunder the Tombs of old focused on what had gone before, there are now far too many exciting new things to ignore. We roar back to life in a reboot, covering past , present and things yet to come.

Let us plunder the tombs….