“This fucking thing . . . scares the shit out of me,” says Brendan Ekstrom, pointing to his Rainbow Machine.

We caught up with the Circa Survive guitarist at the legendary Agora Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, where the band celebrated the 10th anniversary of their album On Letting Go to nerd out on gear. And nerd out we did.

In the decade since On Letting Go’s release, Ekstrom says he’s “been through the ringer” as far as his pedalboard is concerned. He’s tried everything from true bypass loop switchers to AxeFX, and now he’s right back where he started, doing “the classic tap dancing thing.”

All that fancy footwork is paying off, because the band’s atmospheric, delay-laden post-hardcore tunes cut as deep as they did ten years ago.

Circa Survive’s Descensus is available now.

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