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Better than ‘Old Ways’ … - 69%
The latest release of the American band would be this and it would also be output number two in the year 2010. Again, seven tracks appear on it and the overall length shows a striking resemblance, too. It should not surprise further, when also the music itself follows a similar direction as in the output discussed above: but let us start with the general description again.
Well, the music is noisy, has black metal screams, comes at times with a voluminous sound and a drum-computer (later also normal drums seem to appear; Glory at Hand), whose programming shows the obvious and all too common flaws. Young Eagle opens with a thunderstorm and music in style of Gräfenstein or Setherial. No neat opening, no small introduction … a barrage of riffs is unleashed upon the listener and the tempo heads for that of an ICE. Even though this tendency is not kept as a main concept on this album, Jute Gyte like to return to it again and again. So, while one facet is rather fast and aggressive, the other one is much calmer and comes with a more in variety.
Melodic might be a proper description for these and the tempo as well as the style is then reduced to a minimum. It is a counter-point to what was discussed above. Acoustic and ambient interludes or breaks – whatever you might want to call it – provide the listener with a different set of emotions. The band does even take it so far as to compose music that is so calm and inoffensive – What a Bird Bore Away Over the Deep Ocean – that one might describe it as something on the other side of the spectrum; when you use the black metal parts as the other extreme.
When you take a look at the lyrics, then something odd or interesting – depends on certain preferences on the side of the listener – might unravel themselves. Unlike a lot of other black metal bands, here the idea behind the texts is something different; this would be true for both releases. No satanic clichés appear here and also no call to arms in order to fight Christianity. Mysticism of a peculiar kind is the red line which binds those two releases somehow together; even though the actual content is not connected. Philosophical in style and with references to Hegel for instance, this American band wants to step out of the shadow of the ordinary approach, which has been done to death. Memories on Satyricon and the metaphorical language in the texts are evoked and Jute Gyte wants you to listen and to read, wants you take some time and to figure out the meaning behind it all. Some examples will make this clear:
(taken from Glory At Hand; Young Eagle)
(taken from What a Bird Bore Away Over the Deep Ocean; Young Eagle)
(taken from Waves; Old Ways)
So, we have sort of dystopian, post-apocalyptic impressions (1), Blake-inspired mysticism (2) and somehow science-fiction like stories (3). Of course the music reflects this in some respect: 2 would be a calm and ambient/acoustic piece to name one example.
Again, the band seems not to be entirely sure on which path to walk upon. Would it be appropriate to follow the acoustic and atmospheric one or is the metal and noisy one. Similar to the other album discussed above, Jute Gyte has some difficulties in getting their stuff done right. Maybe it has to do something with the point of view from which someone actually approaches this kind of art, but the lack of consistency, these absurd switches and breaks in the style are not only disturbing but they fail to create a lasting impression; aside from the one named boredom. Those elements do not fit into the rest of the art and could easily be used for other purposes and it would not make a penny of a difference. When you take a look on the discography of the band, then you will notice what kind of facets the oeuvre consists of. There is the electronic side and there is the metal side… but when you merge them together, like to was attempted on these two releases, then they appear rather separate from each other and not coherent. Well, it is easier this way, but the outcome is all too obvious: partial shallowness, no synergy effects and confusing arrangements.
On the positive side can be noted that the band worked on their art and got rid of these endless monotonous passages and replaced them with something more friendly to the ear. Switches in tempo, breaks and interludes make an appearance in one way or another. And even though the performance is still not convincing and fails to impress thoroughly, it is at least preferable over the one on Old Ways. This is neither good nor bad. It is something strange or odd, and while it is possible to listen to it, to reach the level of being ‘entirely enjoyable’ would be too far-fetched. Some nice moments can be found on this recording, but the negative ones have an impact as well.
Based on a review originally written for ‘A dead spot of light (Number 7)’:
http://www.archive.org/details/ADeadSpotOfLight...number7
