With extreme metal’s ability to merge other, often more complex and radical genres, jazz will commonly be utilised by means of allowing artists to explore more progressive musical ideas or free up new means of heaviness and chaos. But what happens when the utter disarray of sonic bedlam goes too far or, depending on how one were to look at it, reaches a creative peak? Russian 5-piece death/grind/mathcore/free jazz band ByoNoiseGenerator honor this concept fittingly. Seven years after their album Neuromechanica, they continue to push their sonic limits with the chaotic and excessive force-driven Subnormal Dives.
It’s honestly a task in itself to really comprehend what’s going on upon first listen, at least beyond the remorseless death-infused brutality and free jazz form comradery, it does at first come off as a combobulation of musical ideas played together in provocative succession, as tracks like “NoSuccessToday”, “IQ69Exaltations”, and “Null. State=PERMANENT;return VOID;” will undoubtedly convey. There are, however, some interesting ideas floating about that take shape in the form of dissonant riffs, sharp key and rhythmic shifts, and aggressive timbral expressiveness that abandons any sense of structure, formality or instrumental lead as the average track seems to shift momentum frequently which allows the leading instrument to change hands going from bass to guitar to saxophone and back again with merciless disorder.
It would be a disservice to the band’s high standard of creativity and musicianship to suggest that the tracks here don’t demonstrate any proficiency within the utter madness of the music; on the contrary, there is a great deal of technical dexterity on display throughout, primarily within the rhythm section where the bass goes HARD with slap and walking bass techniques in rapid succession. This is notable on the opening track “Eb (D#)” that plays around with some classic jazz fusion parts before succumbing to a barrage of mathcore riffs and untimely distorted notations.
The abrupt saxophone leads further descend into uncharted and confused territory, creating these sudden dynamic changes that go from a furious d-beat mode of sonic violence to a free-form, noir-tinged jazz break that allows the sax and percussive sections to improvise such as on “LoveChargedDiveBombs”. On the one hand, the free jazz mathcore vibes may reign supreme, but this doesn’t diminish the heavier death- and grind-influenced parts by any means; these riffs clearly go hard and add to the overall lack of cohesion that the record looks to exhibit.
Subnormal Dives of course will be one of those albums that is so outlandish and ridiculous in its sonic endeavour that even committed fans may struggle to uphold this with a level on seriousness. Yet, for a band that attracts a cult-like and committed following, the music produced by ByoNoiseGenerator, though pushed to its most gimmicky at times, does demonstrate a high level of intricacy and skill with the artists displaying a vast knowledge of the more technical aspects of these styles performed at an exceedingly high musical standard.
