Album Details

• Artist: Grey Daturas
• Album: Return To Disruption
• Label: Neurot
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-06-29

This is my first experience with Grey Daturas. They hail from Melbourne, Australia and are quite at home on Neurosis' Neurot label. They've been kicking around their noisy droning doom-tinged post-rock for quite some time, this being their 7th year of existence. Return To Disruption is an album that challenges you up front and never lets up, gradually growing in size and scope over the course of it's seven "songs".

"Beyond and into the Ultimate" opens things on an intense note, as the song builds on stiff droning and a snaking drum beat that grows more and more sinister before the wave crashes over. Into the title track, which is quite strange; little more than a collection of sound fx but masterfully arranged to create a frightening atmosphere. "Balance of Convenience" opens huge with a wall of noise before settling into over two minutes of shrill feedback. At this point you should be well and disturbed. The two 10 minute "epics", "Answered in the Negative" and "Demartation Disputes/Unity" are the album's best, featuring all of the elements that make Grey Daturas click. They build over a tribal feel in the percussion and steady droning into crescendos of noise. 

While the execution of Grey Daturas is spot on, there is actually not much to Return To Disruption. Fans of droning noise ala Neurosis or Sunn0))) have heard most of this before, and to my ears nothing really seperates it from the pack. It's too by-the-books to really do any standing out on it's own. However, for fans of the style, Return to Disruption deserves to be in your collection. 

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