Russian Circles returned to Dublin for what now seems to be an annual visit on Thursday evening where the intimate surroundings of Hangar were nearly destroyed by the colossal sounds of the Sargent House heavyweights.

Support on the night came from Val Normal, the well known Dublin grunge rockers. At times, their music seems somewhat sporadic but with healthy sprinklings of genius. They’ve come a long way from Nirvana covers, and it’s great to see a band so deserving supporting Russian Circles. Their noisy set came to a close and left an extended amount of time before the main act took to the stage. This initially seemed unusual, but the atmosphere in the room grew, and it was clear that this gap had paid off.

When the three piece took to the stage at 9:45, the room had filled out. In typical Russian Circles style, there was an absence of light on the stage which added to the darkness of opening track, Deficit. It’s difficult to summarise a Russian Circles show succinctly as it really is something best experienced in person. There aren’t words yet invented that can sum up the explosive energy or the dark and brooding intensity of their show.

309 rolled into Geneva and created what is debatably the loudest combination of tracks imaginable. The room trembled as the crowd roared approval in between head bobbing and the occasional excited leap into the air. Few bands can create the sound that Russian Circles manage to – both in volume and quality. Not a word is uttered by the band through the entire set, but they don’t need to say a word. They know why they’re here.

Nine songs comprise the set that lasted little over an hour. It felt as if they were building to something, as if this was the doomsday soundtrack. The crowd pleasing Mladek precedes the mammoth closer, Death Rides A Horse. The intensity of Death Rides A Horse is felt far more in a live setting as the band gave their all and left revellers wanting more when it came to a close.

There may not have been any new material this time around, but it didn’t matter. Sargent House has a serious bill of acts at the minute, and us Irish are lucky that they spend so much time on our shores. Russian Circles are more than welcome to make the annual trip here as they will always be well received, and this show just solidified this fact.