Review Summary: Haven't you heard? Jazzy death metal is all the rage these days!
We live in a world where artists are becoming more and more daring with their music. Genres are being combined that, on paper, have no business of said combining. ByoNoiseGenerator is a band from Russia and to some, their brand of free jazz influenced brutal deathgrindmathcore will probably be a huge turnoff. The music is off kilter and messy in every possible way. But boys,
Subnormal Dives is a very beautiful mess as a whole.
I called them brutal deathgrindmathcore because that made up word is the only logical term for the band. The riffage here has almost no structure to it. A lot of them don’t fit into the context of any track. Somehow the barrage of riffs mixed with the inhuman drums and robotic gutturals that sound like they’re being spewed from the solar system come together to form a discombobulated and headspinning yet somehow cohesive overall sound.
And yes, I did mention free jazz. Just like the riffage, the sax playing here is absolutely bonkers. It sounds like
Meditations era John Coltrane rose from his grave to perform one last haunting soliloquy. One last bow to his fans. No, obviously it’s not Coltrane, but the ritualistic spinning of that sax will hit you harder than any riff. And the riffs do hit HARD. The drumming performance during the brutal parts is a complete 180 from the serene, rhythmic drumming presented during the slower jazz parts. Incredible range and technical prowess all at the same time.
Subnormal Dives is an album that will appeal to a very small percentage of people. Even fans of death metal might find this a tad out of their wavelength. That doesn’t mean that there’s not plenty of greatness found here. Think of mixing the previously mentioned John Coltrane with bands such as Pyrrhon or Imperial Triumphant. Those elements all blending together might sound rough, but when done correctly, they can create something truly fun. That’s exactly what ByoNoiseGenerator has done.
