Circle of Dust

Lore & Background

Klayton formed Circle of Dust in New York City after the disbandment of his former late '80s thrash metal outfit Immortal. Signed to R.E.X. Records in 1991, Klayton self-recorded and self-produced all of the Circle of Dust material. The self-titled debut album, released by R.E.X. in 1992, has been described as 'post-Pretty Hate Machine industrial pop'. That same year, Klayton, using the pseudonym Tox, teamed up with R.E.X. president Doug Mann to create Brainchild and release Mindwarp, which featured music more intense than Circle of Dust's debut and showcased dark cyberpunk-esque lyrics that were largely political in nature, and harsher, more thrash-influenced metal guitars. The now-defunct television show MTV Sports used part of the song 'Deviate' for its long-time intro.

In 1994, R.E.X. obtained a new distribution deal and pressed Klayton for a new release. As a stopgap measure, he re-recorded and remixed portions of Brainchild's Mindwarp album and re-issued it under the Circle of Dust moniker. R.E.X. urged Klayton to record a brand-new album; instead, Klayton opted to completely re-record the Circle of Dust's debut album, the sonic quality of which he had been strongly dissatisfied with. This re-issue (1995) scrapped three songs and included four new ones, but retained identical artwork. Circle of Dust toured heavily to promote both re-issues. The live touring band included Daren 'Klank' Diolosa on guitars, Chris Donohue on bass and keyboard, and Jason Tilton on drums.

After Klayton put Circle of Dust on hiatus in 1995, he worked with illusionist Criss Angel on theatrical music and a magic show called Angeldust. During that same period, Klayton also recorded a posthumous Circle of Dust album as a formal gesture of farewell. Disengage (1998) marked the formal end of Circle of Dust and contained reworkings of earlier songs (1991–1995) Klayton had written. The album was markedly different, musically, from the earlier Circle of Dust and Brainchild albums. In November 2015, Klayton announced that he had obtained the rights to the entire Circle of Dust catalog and decided to revive his Circle of Dust moniker. Circle of Dust's fifth studio album, Machines of Our Disgrace, was released in December 2016 on Klayton's own label FiXT.

Reader's Guide

Circle of Dust was popular in Christian alternative metal circles during most of the 1990s. In writing the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, Mark Allan Powell refers to the band as 'the quintessential Christian industrial rock group.' As early as 1994, Circle of Dust (along with Argyle Park) had been criticized by some Christian music press and by numerous fans for not having religious enough lyrics. These issues culminated in Klayton abandoning the Christian music industry entirely after the release of Disengage. In the early 2000s, a small independent record company called Retroactive Records obtained the rights to the old Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Brainchild, and Metamorphosis albums, remastered them, and re-issued them in limited runs of 1,000 each. The project's significance lies in its pioneering blend of industrial and metal elements within the Christian alternative scene, and its later revival under Klayton's own label, which brought the catalog to a new audience.

Did You Know?

• Klayton changed his name from Scott Albert to Klay Scott, a nickname given by illusionist Criss Angel to denote his ability to 'take sounds and shape them as if they were clay'.
• The liner notes of Disengage contain excerpts of an interview in which Klayton explained why he had disbanded Circle of Dust and started anew with Angeldust.
• Within two weeks of signing his contract with Flying Tart for Disengage, the label was bought out and dissolved, ensuring the album saw extremely limited distribution.

Origins & the R.E.X. Era

Circle of Dust was born in New York City in the late 1980s, emerging directly from the ashes of Klayton's earlier thrash metal band, Immortal. After that group dissolved, Klayton channeled his energy into a new direction, signing with R.E.X. Records in 1991. From that point forward, he handled every aspect of recording and production himself, a hands-on approach that defined the project's early sound. The self-titled debut, issued in 1992, has been characterized as "post-Pretty Hate Machine industrial pop," blending electronic textures with melodic sensibilities. That same year, Klayton adopted the pseudonym Tox and partnered with R.E.X. president Doug Mann to launch Brainchild, a companion act whose Mindwarp album pushed toward darker cyberpunk themes, politically charged lyrics, and heavier thrash-influenced guitar work. The Brainchild track "Deviate" even found a second life as the long-running intro theme for MTV Sports. In 1993, the Metamorphosis compilation gathered outtakes and Klayton remixes from Circle of Dust, Mindwarp, and Living Sacrifice's Nonexistent, cementing the interconnected web of his early output.

The Re-Recording Era and the Live Band

By 1994, R.E.X. Records had secured a new distribution deal and was pressing Klayton for fresh material. As a quick fix, he re-recorded and remixed select tracks from Brainchild's Mindwarp, reissuing them under the Circle of Dust name with altered cover art. But the label wanted something entirely new, and Klayton, already exhausted from constant touring, made a bold choice: rather than write a new album, he went back and completely re-recorded the 1992 debut. The 1995 reissue featured dramatically improved musicianship and studio quality, dropped three original tracks, and added four new compositions, all while keeping the identical artwork. To promote both re-issues, Circle of Dust hit the road relentlessly. By this point the touring lineup had solidified around Daren "Klank" Diolosa on guitars, Chris Donohue handling bass and keyboards, and Jason Tilton behind the drums. This period of intensive live performance and studio refinement gave the project a cohesive identity that carried through the rest of the 1990s.

Hiatus, Side Projects, and the Klayton Transformation

After putting Circle of Dust on hiatus in 1995, Klayton threw himself into a whirlwind of parallel creative pursuits. In 1994 he had produced Chatterbox, a side project with members of The Crucified that yielded the album Despite. That same year he began Argyle Park with friend Buka, operating under three pseudonyms—Dred, Deathwish, and Celldweller—and collaborating with guests like Tommy Victor of Prong and JG Thirlwell of Foetus. In 1996 he produced Still Suffering, the debut of former Circle of Dust guitarist Klank, which absorbed unreleased songs Klank had written for the band. Then came the most transformative chapter: Klayton spent over two years working with illusionist Criss Angel on Angeldust, a multi-media theatrical show. It was during this collaboration that Angel gave him the nickname "Klay Scott," a reference to his talent for shaping sounds as though they were clay. The project produced the 1998 album Musical Conjurings. Amid all this, Klayton also recorded what would become Disengage, a posthumous farewell album blending his earlier industrial-metal riffs with new dance and ambient influences, closing with remixes by his younger brother Dan Leveler.

The 2015 Revival and Catalog Reclamation

In November 2015, Klayton announced that he had regained ownership of the entire Circle of Dust catalog, a sweep that included the Metamorphosis compilation and the Argyle Park side project. With full creative control restored, he chose to resurrect the Circle of Dust name. In a YouTube statement, he explained that he wanted to reinterpret his current Celldweller-era production through the lens of his older, more hands-on approach. The revival immediately bore fruit: an official Circle of Dust remix of "Jericho" appeared on Celldweller's End of an Empire, and a brand-new track with Circle of Dust production involvement was slated for release that year. Klayton also announced a 2016 re-release of the complete Circle of Dust catalog on his own FiXT label, packed with bonus content. On March 4, 2016, the remastered 1992 self-titled album dropped as part of that effort. The project's fourth and final studio album, Machines of Our Disgrace, followed in 2016, bringing the Circle of Dust story full circle—nearly two decades after Disengage had closed the book on the original run.