Circle of Shit - Almost There Now.

Circle Of Shit – Almost There Now – CD – Aussaat – 2022 – Aussaat 25

https://circleofshit.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Aussaatundernte/

1.       All The Happiness Felt.

2.       Cherry Pulsus at Night.

3.       Fucking Amateur.

4.       In B-Low Fidelity.

5.       Watch It Rise!

6.       Insulting The Lonely.

Finish project Circle of Shit has been around since 2011, their first release was Perseita, Perseita, Perseita on Deep Lake Records in 2013. Since then, they have released on Void Singularity Recordings, Nil By Mouth Recordings, Freak Animal Records, Aussaat and Phage Tapes. I’ve reviewed them before and liked what I heard. The CD of this album comes with a booklet, that has impressive artwork that seems to focus on the individual and their relation to the city environment.

A dirge like, slow-moving atmosphere builds on All Happiness Felt. It sounds like field recordings, drones of different pitches and metal abuse combined together. A vocal speaks underneath the sounds, you can’t make it out, but it is there.  This track is an excellent demonstration of control over tone and texture, constantly manipulating both to keep the work captivating. A slower build up begins the album’s longest track Cherry Pulsus at Night, I like the control exhibited over the low-level noise. What I see as infected distortion is used and it hisses across the track gaining increasing prominence in the sound. The metal abuse returns to distort the ambient feel of the track, turning it into abstracted clutter. As low level slowed down noise, I think this is an example of a group completely mastering the technique so the slightest shifts can have a big impact in the work. When the work intensifies in volumes it is armed with full sonic impact.

Fucking Amateur begins like a field recorded riot, a fight complimented by feedback and distortion in the background. A vocal eventually talks over everything and it shifts across the stereo range, left to right and back again. The use of field recording in B-Low Fidelity makes it sound like Circle of Shit are playing in a busy street, kicking off as passers by go about their business, it is as if the band becomes a factor in an environment. The electronic noise sounds like it is alive, like an animal making noises as if to contrast yet simultaneously be part of the environment. Is it noise becoming a life form? The use of wall distortion amongst other noises is good, when it is left on its own, the track becomes a wall. As a wall the track shifts and changes well, it isn’t lazy wall at all. Wall is well, so to speak. The work mirrors different aspects of life and how it relates to it across different tracks.

Circle of Shit masters Death Industrial tinged ambient terror on Watch It Rise. This shows discipline of composition in how it communicates and develops. The rise in sound is controlled, it is never allowed to rip out, the sound doesn’t lead it is executed tightly, consistently. There are sounds in this work that give a Spiritual Sci-Fi feel. The highest volume comes at the end of the track, as if that is what the work was building up to.  A murkier dirge dominates Insulting the Lonely, I like it and want to Dick punch it at the same time. Warped screwy sounds flow through the river of distortion, feedback screams at everything too. This successfully balances the flow of low noise and the chaotic higher pitched elements well. It ends in a recording of people singing with melodic instrumentation.

This album is a demonstration of excellent power, discipline and skill. Another cracking album from artist and label.

I sulked at work today, all on my own 2023.