
Circle - Hissi [Ektro Records - 2012]“Hissi” is the next in the series of reissues from this hypnotic riff based genre shifting Finish project. This is the bands 3rd album, and it originally appeared back in 1996 on Metamorphos records. It showed the bands locked riff sound shaped into a electronica tinged rock type styling, with darts into more carnival themed sound tracking too. The album was originally conceived as the soundtrack to a creepy puppet theatre production, and the cd’s artwork features close-up picture the creepy puppets themselves. The albums eight tracks find the band in it’s vocal-less/ instrumental form, with the tracks run-times falling between just under the four & half minute, to ten & a half minute mark. The pace/ mood through-out the album is relatively varied switching between: cold ‘n’ hacking mixtures of chilled electronics/ synth & repetitious riff craft. To up-beat yet moody carnival rock with some slight jazz organ dwells. Through to sinister bass lined rock plods that are festooned with moody & slight experimental/ noise guitar texturing, or spacey synth throbs ‘n’ melts. As a whole the album feels quite structured and soundtrack like, so you don’t really get any weird ‘n’ wacky diversion as you do on some Circle albums. Extra wise this reissue does’nt feature any unreleased tracks, but the booklet does feature a half page write-up about the album by Circle founder/ key player Jussi Lehtisalo. “Hissi” is enjoyable if fairly short Circle album( it comes in just under the 50 minute mark, where most of their albums hit around the 70 minute mark) that has a more controlled soundtrack feel to it      Roger Batty
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