March 30, 2014

ENDLESS MOTHS SWARMING: Jute Gyte - Vast Chains (2014)


Today, in "metal subgenres you've never heard of", we bring  you Jute Gyte, a one-man project playing "microtonal experimental black metal with irregular meters, dense polyphony, and wastelands of trudging black doom". Oh man! If that doesn't light up your hipster alarm, then you must be a pleb who is content with listening to regular black metal. Hmph!

Adam Kalmbach, the man behind Jute Gyte (which, by the way, doesn't really mean anything; it's just a made-up name), is the type of guy who's really creative, so his musical output is quite impressive, both in terms of volume and quality. Vast Chains is his latest release and conjures 6 long tracks that are bound to bring collapse and despair to your already miserable existence. I only have a vague idea of what microtonal music means, even after googling and reading a bit about it, so don't expect me to explain the theoretical intricacies of Jute Gyte's music. Suffice it to say, all of the songs are weird, angular and Escherian in structure, with hypnotic dissonant riffs and simple yet effective drumming, creating a trance-like and oppressive atmosphere. Further adding  to that are the vocals - coarse shrieks which sound like they're coming from the bottom of some horrible black pit. The lyrics are an unexpected highlight: often abstract and hermetic, they paint bizarre and nightmarish images of obsidian towers, black seas, dying animals and broken hopes. 

There's a lot of albums to wade through when it comes to Jute Gyte, but Vast Chains is a good starting point. If you're looking for something a bit more accessible and up-beat (although that's a relative term in this case), I suggest you listen to 2011's Impermanence. Either way, your mind is about to be broken like 1000 mirrors.


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