The Grey Daturas are a relatively prolific trio from Melbourne whose music can be a bit difficult to pin down. Certainly, there's metal of many stripes at the forefront, and to my ears, a post-rock element as well. The Neurot Recordings press release claims that the band is informed by
the Stooges and European black metal. In reality,
Return to Disruption reminds me more of the pummeling post-prog attack of nineties luminaries as
Don Caballero, except the
Daturas' music is completely improvised. The black metal connection could be a reference to the hazy production values, which blunt the edges a bit, thus softening the blows a bit. Of course,
Neurosis pioneered the shoegaze metal movement with great panache, (Neurosis Recordings is their label) and the
Daturas seem to have sifted a bit of their sound into the stew as well. Add to that the shadow of
Albert Ayler hovering somewhere in the mist and you're just about there.
Having said all of that, one might expect Return to Disruption to be the album of the year. As often is the case, however, great influences don't guarantee engaging music. Which is not to say it's by any means terrible. It starts off interestingly enough, with some scrabbling and scraping, which might not be out of place on a late sixties AMM record. But when the metal influences enter, any semblance of subtlety goes out the window. There's some inspired playing, and plenty of enthusiasm, but halfway in, the unending bluster get wearisome. The Grey Daturas are without a doubt a band worth hearing, especially for more adventurous metalheads. Their 2004 album Dead in the Woods was a sharp, heavy and focused work, and for the uninitiated, it's a great place to start. For the converts, Return to Disruption will most likely get the job done.
