Adam Kalmbach has been a busy individual. Since I reviewed Old Ways,  his third CD of impressive, one man black metal back in 2009, he has released 6 more albums under the Jute Gyte moniker, including a couple of atmospheric experimental albums. There obviously isn’t a lot to do in Springfield, Missouri (I can attest to that).

The latest of his efforts (and second album he released in 2011) is Verstiegenheit (German for ‘Extravagance’), and I’m flabbergasted why a label like Moribund Cult or Bindrune Recordings hasn’t picked this guy up yet, as he has the potential to be the new Wrest or Malefic. other than the expected limitations of a one man recording with programmed drums and a reedy guitar sound, the music Kalmbach writes is now top notch covering all the bases of brittle, spiteful black metal, creepy atmospherics and a contrasting, unique style that makes his music stand out above much of the like minded one man black metal out there today.

Initially, Kalmbach appears to have toned things down since Old Ways, with less noisy, grating industrialized  black metal, but a more organic, Nattens Magridal sound, but with a more bass. About 3;18, 6:00 and 7:00 into impressive, buzzing opener “Gates of Day and Night” he shows off some really nice riffage that’s much more impressive than some of the sheer noise of Old Ways. But “Apparitions in the Woodlands at Dusk” shatters the ambiance with a lurching, unhinged 11 minutes of chaos. But the contrasting ability Kalmbach has appears for “The Light that Hangs above the Fields” another shrill, galloping, early Ulver-ish number, with some unsettling shrieking injections an even an menacing lurch that shows Kalmbach just isn’t easy to predict or pigeonhole (his atmospheric releases cement this). “Emblem of Fertile Blood and Death” is another grainy, tremolo picked assault that at times, stands toe to toe with Anaal Nathrahk‘ s early intensity. But the albums standout is the 11 minute “The Frailty of Everything Revealed” which comes across like a much nastier, contorted, less hipster version of Liturgy.

Kalmbach’s more introspective side is represented by “Church Not made With Hands” and “The Return and the Revere of Desolate Places (late Idyll;)”, two instrumental/atmospheric tracks that break up the causticity but they won’t make me check out his more experimental CDs (Communicants, Ridenour’s Earth and Ghost Sickness).

The only downside with Verstiegenheit, as with all Jute Gyte and Jeshimoth Entertainment releases, the album comes in a DVD package, not a regular CD case, making for awkward storage. But if you can cope with that, this as well as Old Ways and 2010’s Young Eagle represent a very talented, promising  individual artist, who thankfully has too much time on his hands.

 

 

[Visit the band's website]

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