Full Circle
by Hælos
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Mar 18, 2016
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. DIY Magazine
    Mar 17, 2016
    60
    HÆLOS are clearly intent on shunning tradition. With that in mind, this is a promising start.
  2. Exclaim
    Mar 16, 2016
    40
    Full Circle as a whole feels anti-climactic. It's a rough start for Haelos, aren't exactly short on potential--here's hoping they branch out and find themselves on future releases.
  3. No Ripcord
    Apr 13, 2016
    60
    The sound HÆLOS have refined is the perfect foil for truly spectacular things to happen, but with the exception of the album’s centerpiece, Oracle, Full Circle consistently gives the impression that the tools aren’t being used as efficiently as they could be.
  5. Q Magazine
    Mar 16, 2016
    40
    There are only so many ways to do deep, woozy bass overlaid with gentle harmonies and a clipped beat, and Haelos exhaust them around track seven. [May 2016, p.109]
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  6. The Line of Best Fit
    Mar 18, 2016
    60
    There aren’t any outright failures on Full Circle--Bernardout and her bandmates Dom Goldsmith and Arthur Delaney are too talented to turn out a subpar project--but there are moments that simply lack staying power.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. Ceccon
    May 9, 2016
    10
    Este album é fantástico. Voz, melodia e letra, tudo incrível. Não consigo nem descrever o que sinto quando ouço (que aliás, está nos top 5Este album é fantástico. Voz, melodia e letra, tudo incrível. Não consigo nem descrever o que sinto quando ouço (que aliás, está nos top 5 albuns mais ouvidos por mim recentemente haha). Se você gosta de um "eletrônico" alternativo bem diferente, essa banda é a opção certa. Mandaram super bem nesse debut album.… Full Review »
  2. sebinho9
    Mar 18, 2016
    10
    This album is fantastic. Industrial beats puncture the silky harmonies while the synths keep everything moving along with such drama. TheThis album is fantastic. Industrial beats puncture the silky harmonies while the synths keep everything moving along with such drama. The tracks are perfectly ordered and textureed, providing juxtaposition after juxtaposition, yet seemingly flowing like a story of a difficult night out in a city. Here's how I read it:

    Full Circle starts with excerpts from Alan Watts' Spectrum of Love lecture, letting us know we're in for an existential experience, then glides into the punchy and portentous Pray- "pray don't fall down". Debut track Dust distils the mood after the initial rush before perhaps the most "pop" track of Earth Not Above takes us to the part of the evening when things start to spiral.
    Thereafter, Oracle provides a moment of contemplation before ascending into a Chemical Bros-like dance track. Alone perhaps describes the part of the night where you've lost your friends and the demons set in. The staccato, running synth (reminiscent of BT) is offset by the haunting vocals.
    Finally, the denouement (or rather renaissance or redemption of the night) begins with the 90s/Olive-like synths and XX-like dual vocals of Separate Lives and steadily grows via Sacred and Cloud 9 which lament and rail against love lost. Finally we come to Pale (presumably referring to the pallor induced by going through a night like this) which rises through the fear and anger into acceptance and a banging dance track with deep lancing synths. Here the vocals move from head to soulful chest, giving the impression of courage and true redemption. Time to go to bed before the demons set in again.

    What a debut album. Now that their sound is secured, I can't wait to see how they branch out.    … Full Review »
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