Genres are useful for categorization, but with certain artists’ work, the labels get too messy. In describing Iowa City’s Deivore, for instance, you can end up sounding like some insufferable aficionado regurgitating word salad, spewing out micro and nano genres to hapless homies just looking for a good recommendation. Give up, bro. Throw out the word “experimental” and get on with your day.
The brainchild of Ben Smasher and frequent collaborator Joseph Norman (also of black metallers Necrotic Theurgist), Deivore has a prolific output of noise and sound collages, primarily composed of guitar and synthesizers, that blur the lines between improvisational jazz, noise music and modern compositional music. In March, Deivore released Divinity Glutted, joined by guitarist Les Ohlhauhser and Jonathan Wilson on alto saxophone, further twisting their art into untrodden grounds.
This album caused me to consider the commonalities between jazz and noise music. While most jazz heads would be appalled at the idea of circuit bent toys, feedback loops and the noisy and abrasive being compared to their revered classics, the chaos carries a familiar grace, expertise and emotion. I get the sense that an interpretation of modal jazz was used for Divinity Glutted’s four tracks.
Opener “Violent Rapture of Christ’s Pallid Form” rarely feels violent. It is unpredictable, yes, but the slow build of synthesizer and guitar tension is matched by Wilson’s saxophone, tuned lower into the mix and adding texture to every detour and freak out. But the track never feels overwhelming, creating a strange sense of solemnity amidst the din. “Painful Moans as the Body is Gnashed into the Final Bowel of Death” is indeed more abrasive, energetic even, playing out like some sort of demonic, Captain Beefheart version of “Dueling Banjos” as each instrument throws out a phrase met by the rest of the ensemble’s response. You can picture the smiling nods of approval after each segment gets a little more unhinged.
Deivore live at Pokeyz Fest. Photo by Jonathan Hansen.
— Ben Smasher (@bensmasher.bsky.social) Jul 2, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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“Cruentous Coagulated Morsels of Chyme” dives deeper into the jazzy feel of the record, coming together like a rhythmless post-bop shuffle in which each player drifts in and out of sync with the others, occasionally landing on a polyrhythm. As discordant as this track is, it feels like the most “traditional” song on Divinity Glutted and provides a lighthearted juxtaposition to the rest of the album’s dream logic.
Closing track “Evacuation of the Fermented Sinew of the Once Crowned Palterer” unfolds over 12 minutes, weaving off-kilter, post-rock swells throughout, like a free jazz warm-up session from Godspeed You! Black Emperor, replacing any jovial feelings with the familiar anxious calamity that the project delivers in droning droves.
While Deivore’s latest may not be everyone’s cup of tea, for folks who dabble in the bizarre, the duo and company have given us a thoughtful, mesmerizing noise record.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s September 2025 issue.
