Album Review: Jarboe - Disburden Disciple
Reviewed by Rob Barker
Avant-garde super-heavyweight Jarboe returns with a twenty-five-year awaited vinyl release of Disburden Disciple to terrify the uninitiated and further disturb those who already know. Revisiting this was a treat (albeit I didn’t get to listen to it on vinyl… yet…), especially with its recent remastering; it’s a long old time since I’ve listened to DD all the way through from start to finish, so in a cool sort of way I was able to refresh myself and almost treat this as a first listening experience. I’ll do a breakdown of the tracks, but I’ll start off by saying if you’re new to Jarboe to really expect something new and different when listening. Sure, there’s bits and bobs (least metal phrase ever) that “remind” me of other music, which I’ve tried to put into the review to relate it to newcomers, but DD, and Jarboe’s music in general, is an art-form like no other.
Disburden Disciple starts off with Bound, almost St Vincent like at the intro beat and feel (with a trademark added sinister feeling); Jarboe’s distinctive vocals come over a minimalist beat and vibratey-sounding electronic bass tone, fading into a surprisingly brightly toned guitar with chord progression to match, and signature strangeness in vocals that could cross Joanna Newsom and Scott Walker. Consume Me presents a nice downbeat feeling makes for a relaxing yet unsettling track – I’d say that the album itself gets more unsettling as it progresses, like a story it unfolds into stranger and stranger territory. Bold production decisions made with samples, voiceovers, and the fadeout at the end, but if anything it adds to the Lynchian peculiarity.
Dear 666 blends discordance and off-beat techniques by both instrumental and vocal efforts here, the track transporting the listener to a dystopian other-world jazz bar, followed by the strange dark poetry of Kiss of Life, and the hum of Scorpion. Under strikes similarities of a Rain Dogs era Tom Waits song, followed again by the broken nightmare trip-to-Oz of The Séance.
Forbid presents what possibly may be the most “typical” song of the album, this folk-poetry come to life track is a treat, and it’s comparative normality doesn’t recall the listener from the immersion of the strange world already entered; quite the opposite in fact, by feeding us further into the horrible wonderland that the album has thus far created. Forgive throws in more terror disguised as pleasantness – by now we’ve learned not to trust the more tuneful and soothing melodies that Disburden Disciple offers us; this song reminds me of Maudlin of the Well in its approach; in fact, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if I learned that Toby Driver had something to do with this record in some way.
The second-to-final track, Scarification, shows off more Tom Waits jankiness, with Tribal rhythms and mysterious dread, probably my favourite song of the album. Pure War finishes with an almost 10-minute epic of dystopian drone to leave the listener shell-shocked from a truly masterful listening experience.
If you’re new to Jarboe, and don’t want to stray too far off the beaten path into the avant-garde, then this probably isn’t the album for you. Even those who know and enjoy the work of Jarboe will admit that it’s very much a not-for-everyone act, and also will highlight that it’s a good example of you-need-to-be-in-the-mood-for-it. Hell, not that I want to put words in her mouth, but I’d daresay that Jarboe herself would be damn proud of how markedly not mainstream her art strides. Disburden Disciple is a tour de force of strange, dark, chilling, haunting and bizarre soundscapes. It’s not heavy in the sense of the standard guitar/drum/bass/raaaaaah, but Lord, it’s fucking soul crushing where it wants to be – which to be honest is most of it. A welcome return of one of Jarboe’s most influential, powerful and disturbing works.
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