Blood Circus was a short-lived band from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington, formed in 1988 that has been described as

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heav ...

or grunge. Rock journalist Ned Raggett writing in

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

describes the band's music as "rough and ready, sludgy guitar rock with a bad attitude".

History

The band's first release was a single, 1988's "Two Way Street"/"Six Foot Under", on

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

. Both

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. ...

and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

performed their first shows in Seattle opening for Blood Circus at the Vogue in 1988. In 1989 Sub Pop released the band's first and only album, a five-track EP called ''

Primal Rock Therapy ''Primal Rock Therapy'' is an EP by Seattle grunge band Blood Circus, released in 1989 by Sub Pop. It was reissued on CD in 1992 with seven additional 1989 tracks: the band's first non-album single and five unreleased tracks. It was produced by ...

'' which, despite being now recognised as a milestone record of that time and place, was at the time panned by the critics and ignored by the public. This contributed to the split of the band in 1989 after a North American tour with the French band

Les Thugs Les Thugs were a punk band from France. Their records are distributed in North-America by Sub Pop Records. Biography Early Days and first issue The founding members of Les Thugs were two brothers, Eric and Christophe Sourice, from Angers, ...

. Both bands played in San Francisco in June 1989. They briefly reformed in 1992, when Sub Pop re-released ''Primal Rock Therapy'' on CD with five additional unreleased tracks."Blood Circus Enjoys Reunion In Scene They Helped Create"
''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington s ...

'', October 23, 1992. The rerelease comprised almost all of the band's recorded output, except for the song "The Outback", which can be found on the ''

Sub Pop 200 ''Sub Pop 200'' is a compilation released in the early days of the Seattle grunge scene (December 1988). It features songs (many of them first releases and otherwise unattainable) from Tad, The Fluid, Nirvana, Steven "Jesse" Bernstein, Mudhoney ...

'' compilation. The band also briefly appeared in the 1996 film '' Hype!'', a documentary about the rise of the Seattle scene. Blood Circus performed a one-off reunion show at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe in 2007."Where Have You Gone, Michael Anderson of Blood Circus?"
/ref> In April 2012 Geoff Robinson conducted a comprehensive audio interview wit
Music Life Radio
about Blood Circus, and his life. In May 2017 "Six Foot Under" was included on the deluxe reissue of '' Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''.

Discography

* ''Two Way Street/Six Foot Under'' 7" (1988) * ''

'' EP (1988) * ''

'' – "The Outback" (1988) * ''Primal Rock Therapy'' (1992) CD re-release with 5 previously unreleased tracks from 1989. * ''Unreleased Ünd Live'' (2007) CD compilation with 12 previously unreleased live tracks from 1988 to 1989. * ''Dead Beats'' (2020) CD compilation of remastered tracks from Primal Rock Therapy and the Two Way Street / Six Foot Under single. Limited Self-release by the band through Bandcamp.

References

External links

Official Blood Circus WebsiteBlood Circus on Facebook
American sludge metal musical groups American grunge groups Musical groups from Seattle Rock music groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups reestablished in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 {{US-rock-band-stub