Jute Gyte — Verstiegenheit

Adam Kalmbach, the man behind Jute Gyte (and for the matter the owner/creator of Jeshimoth Entertainment) is one industrious person.  Verstiegenheit is his tenth full-length release (although this is Jute Gytes third more black metal focused release).  Looking through Jute Gytes list of work it appears that they have issued five different full-length cds in 2011 alone! 

Roughly translated from German; Verstiegenheit means “extravagance”, not a bad description to illustrate the textures and atmospheres behind the work.    Musically it has an abundance of inspiration, one minute being raw black metal in all its ferocity.  The next being an exploration of free form jazz.  Even then the transitions don’t end and Jute Gyte flows flawlessly into a meditative and striking acoustic and keyboard pieces.  The tempos jump from high-speed intricate time changes to exquisitely minimal dark ambient.  The only bone of contention may be the vocals.  Whether screech-like high pitched screams are your cup of tea will depend on your own preferences.  They really don’t add anything overall to the project (and to be honest a few of the songs are instrumentals) and for the most part are minimal at least.

What it comes down to is musically it is exceptionally good.    Verstiegenheit has enough twists and turns to it that it holds the listeners attention.  The vocals could be a plus or minus, but in general it is a fine release.