Circle / Mamiffer

Often, collaborative efforts result in a fusion of the aesthetics of the participating bands, juxtaposing each group's strengths and styles in a way that either complements or competes. This merger between the experimental Mamiffer and the metallic Circle has produced something entirely different: not a hybrid of their disparate styles, but something entirely outside of it. Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) is a strange, squalling series of compositions that challenge the listener both with their eerie complexity and sheer, fretful discomfiture. Recorded in a single day in a church in Keski-Porin Kirkko, Finland (Circle's home town), Enharmonic Intervals is an experiment in the truest sense of the word: it is an exercise in risk, and so a lot of it fails, but not necessarily in ways that are unproductive. The density and chaos of the tracks often devolve into noise that's shriekingly unpleasant and difficult to fight through. At other moments, however, the results are shockingly lovely; "Tumulus" is a high point, as is the deep trembling of "Vaso Luna." A disparate, dissonant, confrontational record, Enharmonic Intervals is both worth listening to and extremely difficult to like.