Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Grey Daturas is an enigmatic trio whose music is an amalgamation of many musical styles from metal all the way to free jazz. Now, I know what people might think upon seeing such a lofty description as many groups who aspire to such allegiances of musical styles or name check them end up falling well short, but Grey Daturas is different. Return to Disruption is the band's third full-length and first in more than three years while in the interim the group leaves a wake of splits (some of the more notable ones include one with Wolf Eyes and another with Bardo Pond) and EPs. So just looking at the wide variety of their split release partners, Grey Daturas might just be an outfit that can back up their hyperbole. The seven tracks on Return to Disruption are several examples of how they do so.
As the whirlwind of noise assaults my ears, I sit in mild amusement at the frenetic activity that Grey Daturas displays in some of their music (see opening track "Beyond and into the Ultimate" and parts of "Balance of Convenience" for examples of this pummeling force of nature type flourish) while within the span of seconds the trio can switch wholesale into slow dirges or blistering swells of feedback that could quite possibly scrape the paint off of walls. The fingernails on the chalkboard effect of "Undisturbed" is difficult to deal with at times, but it shows another side of the group. The range of capabilities of the band is truly impressive and when one factors in the fact that they do not practice together and this is mostly an improvisational recording, the impressive factor only increases. "Answered in the Negative" even has some melodic moments that imbue the piece with an almost conversational type tone as the song's arrangement unfolds.
Return to Disruption is a journey in variation and experimentation. Grey Daturas takes listeners on quite the ride as they release their unique sonic manipulations on people, and for the most part, it is an enjoyable experience. One issue with the album is that it could easily fall prey to being background music at times, and for some people that might be right up their alley while others might listen to this once and that be it.
