LYCIA
The Burning Circle And Then Dust

Gatefold cover, trans. red with black and white splatters! 

Anyone with the slightest interest in darkwave music and the goth counterculture is familiar with Lycia. Born in Tempe, AZ, in 1988 from the creative mind of Mike VanPortfleet, Lycia is as seminal and influential as a band can get. Devoted to cold, somber and synthetic sounds, these pioneers of the ethereal are responsible for some of the most acclaimed underground albums of the ‘90s. 

The current lineup of the band is John Fair, David Galas, Tara Vanflower and Mike VanPortfleet, who has been the only constant member since the band’s formation. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the groundbreaking groups in the darkwave and ethereal styles. Their 1995 album The Burning Circle And Then Dust "remains a high point of American dark rock" according to AllMusic, and 1996’s Cold has been cited as one of the genre’s best by Post-Punk.com and Alternative Press. Lycia's sound is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of heavily effected guitars, dark atmospheric keyboards, heavy reverb drenched drum machines, VanPortfleet's somber raspy vocals and Vanflower's vivid melodic voice. 

Avantgarde Music had the pleasure to bring the 1991 debut full-length Ionia to a vinyl edition for the first time in early 2021, and this brought along the chance to cooperate on new music. This turned out to be a rich studio EP, Casa Luna. We reached out to Mike VanPortfleet, who describes Casa Luna as a followup to 2018’s In Flickers, with a more varied approach, stylistically and thematically. “In Flickers and Casa Luna are Lycia’s purest releases. Originally planned as a split 7” with the song “A Quiet Way to Go”, as more songs were written they evolved to an EP”.

edition 200 copies

Anyone with the slightest interest in darkwave music and the goth counterculture is familiar with Lycia. Born in Tempe, AZ, in 1988 from the creative mind of Mike VanPortfleet, Lycia is as seminal and influential as a band can get. Devoted to cold, somber and synthetic sounds, these pioneers of the ethereal are responsible for some of the most acclaimed underground albums of the ‘90s. 

The current lineup of the band is John Fair, David Galas, Tara Vanflower and Mike VanPortfleet, who has been the only constant member since the band’s formation. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the groundbreaking groups in the darkwave and ethereal styles. Their 1995 album The Burning Circle And Then Dust "remains a high point of American dark rock" according to AllMusic, and 1996’s Cold has been cited as one of the genre’s best by Post-Punk.com and Alternative Press. Lycia's sound is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of heavily effected guitars, dark atmospheric keyboards, heavy reverb drenched drum machines, VanPortfleet's somber raspy vocals and Vanflower's vivid melodic voice. 

Avantgarde Music had the pleasure to bring the 1991 debut full-length Ionia to a vinyl edition for the first time in early 2021, and this brought along the chance to cooperate on new music. This turned out to be a rich studio EP, Casa Luna. We reached out to Mike VanPortfleet, who describes Casa Luna as a followup to 2018’s In Flickers, with a more varied approach, stylistically and thematically. “In Flickers and Casa Luna are Lycia’s purest releases. Originally planned as a split 7” with the song “A Quiet Way to Go”, as more songs were written they evolved to an EP”.

marble/galaxy effect in grimace purple with pink

Anyone with the slightest interest in darkwave music and the goth counterculture is familiar with Lycia. Born in Tempe, AZ, in 1988 from the creative mind of Mike VanPortfleet, Lycia is as seminal and influential as a band can get. Devoted to cold, somber and synthetic sounds, these pioneers of the ethereal are responsible for some of the most acclaimed underground albums of the ‘90s. 

The current lineup of the band is John Fair, David Galas, Tara Vanflower and Mike VanPortfleet, who has been the only constant member since the band’s formation. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the groundbreaking groups in the darkwave and ethereal styles. Their 1995 album The Burning Circle And Then Dust "remains a high point of American dark rock" according to AllMusic, and 1996’s Cold has been cited as one of the genre’s best by Post-Punk.com and Alternative Press. Lycia's sound is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of heavily effected guitars, dark atmospheric keyboards, heavy reverb drenched drum machines, VanPortfleet's somber raspy vocals and Vanflower's vivid melodic voice. 

Avantgarde Music had the pleasure to bring the 1991 debut full-length Ionia to a vinyl edition for the first time in early 2021, and this brought along the chance to cooperate on new music. This turned out to be a rich studio EP, Casa Luna. We reached out to Mike VanPortfleet, who describes Casa Luna as a followup to 2018’s In Flickers, with a more varied approach, stylistically and thematically. “In Flickers and Casa Luna are Lycia’s purest releases. Originally planned as a split 7” with the song “A Quiet Way to Go”, as more songs were written they evolved to an EP”.

extra limited 100 copies in black vinyl

Anyone with the slightest interest in darkwave music and the goth counterculture is familiar with Lycia. Born in Tempe, AZ, in 1988 from the creative mind of Mike VanPortfleet, Lycia is as seminal and influential as a band can get. Devoted to cold, somber and synthetic sounds, these pioneers of the ethereal are responsible for some of the most acclaimed underground albums of the ‘90s. 

The current lineup of the band is John Fair, David Galas, Tara Vanflower and Mike VanPortfleet, who has been the only constant member since the band’s formation. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the groundbreaking groups in the darkwave and ethereal styles. Their 1995 album The Burning Circle And Then Dust "remains a high point of American dark rock" according to AllMusic, and 1996’s Cold has been cited as one of the genre’s best by Post-Punk.com and Alternative Press. Lycia's sound is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of heavily effected guitars, dark atmospheric keyboards, heavy reverb drenched drum machines, VanPortfleet's somber raspy vocals and Vanflower's vivid melodic voice. 

Avantgarde Music had the pleasure to bring the 1991 debut full-length Ionia to a vinyl edition for the first time in early 2021, and this brought along the chance to cooperate on new music. This turned out to be a rich studio EP, Casa Luna. We reached out to Mike VanPortfleet, who describes Casa Luna as a followup to 2018’s In Flickers, with a more varied approach, stylistically and thematically. “In Flickers and Casa Luna are Lycia’s purest releases. Originally planned as a split 7” with the song “A Quiet Way to Go”, as more songs were written they evolved to an EP”.

second press, two color variants

There is not much to say about Lycia’s masterpiece which hasn’t been said already. Originally released in October 1996, following 1995 The Burning Circle and Then Dust, Cold is one of the most important and relevant darkwave albums of the nineties.

Inspired by the band’s relocation from the desert of Phoenix, AZ, to the snowy landscapes of Streetsboro, Ohio, Cold is a paradigm shift in terms of surroundings as much as a further development in Lycia soundscapes. “I think of all the albums I’ve done, the time and place when we recorded it seeped into Cold more than into any other album”, Mike VanPortfleet commented years later.

Cold is unquestionably one of the very pinnacles in Lycia’s discography, a discography now spanning over three decades and filled with acclaimed releases. An album conceived in the fall of 1995 and ultimately born in the winter of 1996, coming from a band used to write their music in the heat of the desert and now immersed in a snowy, wintry landscape, now made available again for its 25th anniversary.

US darkwave pioneers Lycia are back with a new 7’’ less than a year after the acclaimed Casa Luna EP. It appears Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower, John Fair and David Galas are living an extremely inspired new youth, as these two tracks convey very lively, spry vibes, yet in the usual dark, melancholic tones which are trademarks of the band. In a matter of minutes, Lycia are able to take you back four decades, to a time when 4AD was the coolest label on Earth, Clan Of Xymox delivered the best beats around and Cocteau Twins would nurture your dreams. Lycia shapeshifted once again, yet remaining perfectly recognizable.

Triple LP in trifold cover! Neon orange vinyls, 200 copies limited 

Please note: mock-ups are purely indicative computer graphics: the final product sometimes varies considerably

The Burning Circle and Then Dust is Lycia’s fourth studio recording, originally released on double CD via Projekt Records in 1995. Save for a small CD re-release in 2006 by Silber Records, the album has never been reissued since. It is hence with great pride that here at Avantgarde Music we officially announce a new edition of one of Lycia’s masterworks from the ‘90s, due out on 2CD as well as triple LP, making this the first Burning Circle vinyl release ever.
Mike VanPortfleet himself commented: “After several years of doing more synth oriented material I wanted a return to my guitar roots (in particular English post punk and 4AD). Lycia started as a guitar based band and I wanted to reaffirm that with disc one, which was originally going to be the release. I was also listening to a lot of shoegaze then, which inspired a return of making the guitars, as opposed to the synths, the focal point of the atmospherics.”.
Many things have been said about the album along the last twentyeight years, and the band chose the following to describe the record.
Per Projekt.com. - The Burning Circle And Then Dust was a groundbreaking point in Lycia’s career. It marked a shift from more atmospheric music towards song-oriented music with tracks like “Pray” & “Slip Away.” It marked the first collaborations between Mike VanPortfleet & Lycia members David Galas & Tara Vanflower. It marked the transformation of Lycia into a honed out live touring machine.
Per Pandamonium Magazine via Projekt.com. - Moving back into more formal song structures, Burning Circle returns to true song-writing, and places equal emphasis on guitar as the electronics. However, the music is as intense and powerful as ever, conjuring up vast vistas of soundscapes which are captured in delicate webs of song and structure. Songs like “Pray” are positively dance friendly, while others find Lycia moving towards the fertile ground of darkpop. breathtaking in scope and beauty, exultant in vision, exhilarating in sensory delight. Lycia have arrived.
Per Ned Raggett of AllMusic - a high point of American dark rock and the band's greatest and most ambitious work.