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.
