JUTE GYTE — Perdurance (review)

Album · 2016 · Avant-garde Metal

4.5/5 · 2016-08-13
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Though not up to the crazy levels of the likes of Buckethead and Senmuth, US multi-genre one man act Jute Gyte has certainly put out a respectable number of full-length albums in the ten years since his first, Apidya (2006), with Perdurance (2016) being his twenty-fifth. While you never know what sort of music you will get next from Jute Gyte, whose sole member is Adam Kalmbach, he has been on a run of black metal releases since Discontinuities (2013), with only Dialectics (2015) belonging to a different genre (experimental electronic). Like most of his full-length discography Perdurance is available as a free download from Jute Gyte's Bandcamp, though a physical release is also available.

Perdurance is one of the strangest black metal releases I've ever heard. No, scratch that, it's one of the strangest metal releases I've ever heard, no sub-genre required. Actually better scratch that again, it's one of the strangest albums I've ever heard full stop. Composed with a technique known as microtonal, that is making use of intervals smaller than a semitone, as well as incorporating some electronic elements, even with Kalmbach's blackened screaming all over the six tracks it's hard not to acknowledge that even more so than previous album Ship of Theseus (2015) that Jute Gyte's music has transcended black metal and can only truly be called avant-garde.

In fact most of the time I really don't know what to make of this album. I know that I like it and like it a lot for that matter, but for the life of me I can't explain why I like it, not even to myself so this review's got no chance! In fact a part of me keeps telling myself that I really shouldn't like it. It's crazy stuff that even sounds somewhat messy on the surface and the last track I Am in Athens and Pericles is Young has this particular high pitched tone that keeps repeating during a couple of passages of the track that just goes right through me and even makes me feel physically uncomfortable. And yet despite everything at no point during the 62:39 minute long album do I ever want to actually turn it off. And I keep going back to it. My thoughts while listening to it range from 'why the hell am I listening to this?' to 'Adam Kalmbach is a musical genius'.

Well, I'm sure this review was completely unhelpful, but Jute Gyte's Perdurance is just one of those albums that you can't really describe to someone who hasn't heard it. They need to hear it for themselves. And I hope that if nothing else this review will encourage people to do that, if for no other reason than to find out why the album has perplexed me so much.

more than 2 years ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Great review but you're right. I'm listening to this right now and it's beyond words! LOL. I'm loving it though. Great compositions for avant-garde

Sheavy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I'd seen the name through splits with Venowl and Griz+zlor but never took the chance to check them out. Wow this is awesome stuff! It's like a mathcore band crossed with a black metal band crossed with a noise artist. Mind bending stuff.