Biography
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Years Active
2003 – present (21 years)
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Founded In
Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States
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Members
- Colin Marston
Viscera is a collaborative effort between solo artist and former Swans member Jarboe and Colin Marston/Kevin Hufanagel of ambient/drone outfit Byla.
Noise puts me to sleep. Not in an “I’m bored, I think I’ll take a snooze” kind of sleep, more like an “I’ve been lulled into a bizarre trance that is making me so comfortable” kind of sleep.
It all started with a geology field trip to the northeastern shores of Great Salt Lake located in Utah. The University sprang for one of those nice tour bus style buses with cushy seats, enough legroom for a rhinoceros, and TVs visible from anywhere in the bus. As usual, nothing was playing on the tube, and the conversation was less than exciting, so I decided to listen to Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music that I had just picked up from the library. I had no idea what this album was all about. I just saw Lou Reed and thought “Oh, neat. Haven’t heard this one.” I pressed play and was at first taken aback by the abrasive soundscape I was confronted with. The sound was piercing, loud, and lacking rhythm and melody. After coming to grips with the fact that this wasn’t a hit follow up to Transformer, I settled in to experience the atmosphere. As I let my mind wrap around the heavily textured soundscape, I became very comfortable and was asleep almost instantly. It wasn’t R.E.M. sleep or anything; it was more like my unconscious decided to take over and shut down my conscious self. I won’t go into the details of my experience, but let’s just say I woke up surprisingly refreshed and ready to learn about alluvial fans.
Byla & Jarboe’s Viscera gave me the same feeling. Voice and distorted guitars drive the sound, yet the sound is wonderfully rich. Byla & Jarboe create a mosaic out of sounds; each sound adding its color to the overall picture that the listener is presented with. The drone evolves slowly, but with purpose, as layers are added, textures removed, and keys changed. As the first song changes, pulling me deeper into a trance, it adds a sense of uneasiness. It evokes emotions that border between sinister and angelic. It is as if I am torn between serenity and torment. Despite this interesting interplay, the song becomes quite hard to listen to. Then the second song starts and changes all that.
The wall of heaviness is not the only element to this album, and the gentler songs enter just soon enough to ease the tension. On an every other basis, a more melodic and gentle interlude is presented to the listener. These counterpoints to the abrasive sounds of the preceding tracks are a welcome respite for the ears and mind. They consist mostly of guitar work that at times reminds me of some of the darker California Guitar Trio songs.
I found the breaks between songs to be too sharp and too abrupt. I felt like it ruined the mood when the intense timbre shut off and opened up to a solo guitar playing simple melodies. I appreciate the counterpoint, but it would have created a more whole, or unified album if all the tracks followed a natural progression into the following track. It would have been nice if the noise made a more gentle transition into the quieter guitar parts and allowed the listener to more easily ebb and flow with the music rather then sprint, stop, and walk.
This album takes a unique and meditative turn from the noise genre and is an interesting listen for those willing to withstand walls of distortion in both guitar and vocals. With the problems aside, this is a well put together album that deserves attention, especially considering this duo is working with Jarboe, who, if you don’t know anything about her, you should look up. Her life and career go way beyond the scope of this review.
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