As much as they may try to distinguish themselves, the obscure Jute Gyte clearly belongs to the recent wave of lo-fi “progressive” noise, a genre that blends various extreme electronic subgenres that perhaps all share a certain spirit - the completely freeform, ’sound without association’ style of CCCC and Merzbow with the power electronic of Whitehouse; the early martial industrial rhythms and tape loop techniques of Laibach, SPK and NoN; the hellish soundscapes and brooding, deceptively quiet malevolence of Lustmord or vintage Nurse With Wound. These groups, in their day, represented a purity, a directness of attitude and approach. They were honest, they made me no compromises, and they had little sympathy for the listener. They cared nothing for listenability or reasonable pacing. All this was sacrificed so that they could stand apart from all other forms of expression.
With the blending of subgenres found in groups such as Jute Gyte and Wolf Eyes, this purity is lost. As a result, this group is less distinct than any of the aforementioned by pioneers. However, the music is ultimately more listenable and musical than any of those groups. Few would deny the thought and structure present on this release, but it becomes predictable. It’s closer to the realm of music most of us are used to. It’s also lost a large portion of its organic immediacy.
The sluggish hypnotic loop is Subcon’s weapon of choice - disjointed, synthetic grooves usually created primarily with gritty, washed out synths and samples rather than actual drum machines. The repetition can be initally disappointing, but it’s a great album for meditative states and just plain zoning out. The nature of the loops also unfortunately suggests that the album was sequenced, rather than performed. Without this human feel, a lot of immediacy is missing from the compositions. To be fair, sterility may be the point; in any case, it is certainly not avoided. By being sterile they seem to express a lonely certain desensitization. Often a strength of noise music, however, is that one cannot tell how it was created, or what the source material could be, and “Subcon” seems to remind you often that it was programmed on a laptop. On the other hand, the loops themselves were thoughtfully composed, and are often quite effective. The compositions themselves are filled with interesting ideas, and the dramatic logic with which they unfold is near-perfectly timed and convincingly alien. “Subcon” posesses a unique and interesting rhythmic sensiblity. Groups like this sometimes rely on their anonymity, the inhumanity of their music and cryptic, occult inspired artwork to add a feeling of false importance to their work, but I’m happy to report these tracks do indeed contain substance.
The more aggressive noise washes found on many of the tracks sadly fail to impress, due to the cheap, digital sound of the distortion and the aforementioned audible presence of triggered notes. It’s hard to lose yourself within a womb of sound when the sound has so little spatial depth, as well. Most tracks that reach full tilt here would have benefitted from having these sections removed. At slightly quieter volumes, however, Jute Gyte creates their best textures. These mangled and granulated synths buzz with an enchanting dusty resonance.
The best example of this is the best track on the album, 9 minute opener “Lung”, a track with some real dynamics and intelligent use of space. “Pure”, while overly repetitious and predictable, has some beautiful harmonious processed voice sounds, pitched down to fit the murky, muffled sound of the album. Then follow several less impressive noise tracks which vary little within their durations and contain few interesting sounds, although they do well at creating a sort of drained, watery melancholy, especially “Rain”, which sounds like a storm and actually contains rain samples. It is as if with each repetition of the loop, the listener drifts further from some distant hope. The album gets a few points for “Days”, a 10 minute ode to lethargy with little in the way of progression, but plenty of vintage dark ambient charm. Along with the next track, “Sign”, it sounds not unlike a vintage Throbbing Gristle track slowed down and run through a granular synthesizer. The rhythm and tonal quality are similar, but the sounds themselves have been processed into a metallic, synthetic mulch and bear little relation to the analog synths and tape loops of old. “Sign” is a more active track. A sound reminiscent of the muffled growl of some massive creature trapped underwater makes it a highlight. Both “Days” and “Sign” are better off for never reaching higher volumes. Final track “Weep” is a magnficent and mysterious buildup, climaxing in a thick wash of flute tones and bassy murk echoing into infinity. It’s powerful and achingly emotional.
In conclusion, this is a solid record. It avoids cliche, and has some tracks that are truly worth hearing. It also contains some fairly forgettable material. It is not essential, but I enjoyed the band’s aesthetic enough that I’ll definitely check out their other records. Overall, I’d recommend this album to anyone who’s been enjoying this rennaissance of DIY progressive noise and ritual ambient groups, and is looking for more music in that vein. Most criticism I could apply to this record would apply to aspects that could easily have been intentional stylistic decisions on the part of the band. “Subcon” creates a world, and the fact that it remains spatially two dimensional is part of its lo-fi charm. 4 stars.
