Jute Gyte — Wounded Snake

Jute Gyte (Adam Kalmhach) is a quietly prolific member of the slowly encroaching horde that practices crossover noise rooted in black metal. In these extreme outsider realms, the DIY approach is taken to extremes (out of necessity) as sole proprietorship over a project’s direction and content is often necessary along with heading up the label imprint to validate and distribute such work. In the case of Jute Gyte, this may also be chalked up to the relative lack of stimulating artistic opportunities in the state of Missouri.

With Wounded Snake we find a collection of early, previously unreleased experimental/noise tracks and almost no trace of the dismantled art brut styled black metal of releases like Old Ways and Impermanence. At times in this rapidly expanding discography the primordial blackened guitar/drums/vocals setup is bathed in so much overdriven filth that to the uninitiated it may appear to have come from any one of the many tapes by Kakerlak or Taskmaster, but not so here. Also absent are the curious “vintage IDM” elements of Kalmhach’s Volplane and Faunscan releases. Yes, this collection is mostly harsh (but distinctly varied) noise excursions, many of which fit into the not-completely-devoid-of-variation category one would assign The Rita or Vomir to.

While there is interesting material (sections of which are convincingly executed), the overall 70 minute running time is plainly excessive. Despite the wide variation in sounds (low-pitched demon lovemaking in “Moon Pool”; howling explosions in “Haniver”; unsettling ambience in “Cyroeraeth”) the good stuff is overburdened and flogged far beyond death by the mediocre and meandering stuff.

As with Jute Gyte’s overall output, the emphasis is on quantity rather than in exercising thoughtful selection of the best results of its experimentation, or in choosing one general style and developing it to a proficient level. The accolades I see most often are directed at his black metal works, and indeed he has an utterly unique take on the genre – so much so that it is perplexing as to why Kalmhach spends abundant time with the “other” stuff. The bottom line for Wounded Snake is convoluted: if you’re looking for more twisted black metal, avoid; if you are into his noisier side, are patient, and aren’t too picky about what exactly is destroying your hearing, go for it.