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Byla/Jarboe, "Viscera"
Kevin Hufnagel (Disrhythmia) and Colin Marston (Disrhythmia; Behold... the Arctopus; Infidel?/Castro!), collectively known as the New York ambient noise outfit Byla, team up with ex-Swans siren Jarboe for Viscera, an album of noise and acoustic soundscapes utilising the guitar as its main sound source. A year in the making, from spring 2006 to spring 2007, the five pieces on this CD have been carefully crafted by the Hufnagel/Marston duo to create an album full of atmospherics, harmonics, power, and above all richness, the whole complemented by Jarboe's vocal accents.
Alternating between amplified and acoustic compositions (three of the former and two of the latter), every track (each named after its respective running time) explores the richness of harmonics inherent in this particular stringed instrument. The three heavily amplified and distorted tracks—"15:35," "10:58," and "19:45"—are indeed visceral extended wall-of-sound six-stringed workouts, best heard on headphones so that the total sonic blanket can envelop the listener in a cocoon of noise. In "15:35" for example, sweeping forceful chording and subtle layering—along with a delicate ringing bell-like motif that comes in about half-way through—constantly builds one upon the other, creating tonalities that enhance and complement the main backdrop. "19:45," the standout track for me, starts out with a rapid-fire lead figure before exploding into a barrage of blistering fuzzed-out noise that completely pummels and sears through both ears scorchingly, to meet somewhere in the middle and melting any bits of gray matter that get in the way. Finally the blanket of noise gives way to searing feedback that constitutes the final two or three minutes of the piece. The style of subtly changing layering first manifested in "15:35" is continued here in a slow-rolling evolution, ensuring that the sound never remains static or redundant. The remaining noise track, "10:58," is very much in the same vein with the addition of lower-register growly vocals, infusing a demonic flavor into the meat of the piece.
Contrastingly—and quite startlingly so in some respects, given the rest of the album—"02:28" and "06:41" are entirely acoustic affairs. Of the two the latter is the better, opening with a miminalist plucked harmonic leading into some finger-style treated guitar providing both backdrop and counterpoint for Jarboe's ethereal voice. These two acoustic songs are almost like quiet interludes, intended to let you catch your breath before plunging you headlong once more into the maelstrom.
Admittedly I use the word mesmerizing quite often and I won't apologize for using it again in the context of this album. It is indeed a mesmerizing set of songs that batter and soothe by turns, and that both repels you with unadulterated power and then soothingly beguiles you with delicately soft tones. That aspect surprised me on the first hearing and I wasn't entirely convinced that it was a successful move, but having heard it three or four times since I now believe it to be one of the strengths of the album, emphasizing a) the range of the musical explorations of the musicians and b) their willingness to engage in a bit of risky experimentation. Many albums of a more mainstream nature seem to include a quiet track or two just for the sake of it, as a sop to variety and so-called musical breadth, rather than as a deliberate statement. This collaborative album is both a definite and considered statement, in other words that distorted guitar noise can be just as beautiful as the finest acoustic ballad.
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