By: Maple Graham

BEJALVIN is a cybergrind, hardcore electronic duo—made up of Craig and Gunkman—characterized by their unapologetically harsh and abrasive music. They hail from Minneapolis, and while widely unknown among most people, they still have energy that I’ve not experienced from any other music. Since hearing them on their North American Devastation tour, I’ve come to appreciate their unique style, and I’ve since listened to their entire main discography: ‘BEJALVIN’ (the self-referential album), ‘BEJIBLE,’ ‘BEJUBSTEP 3’, and the most recent ‘PLANETARY DEVESTATION’. I’ll be giving my opinion on these main 4 albums only.

With ‘BEJALVIN’ being their first work, it’s no surprise that I find it to be the most lackluster of their main releases—however it’s promising, and you see a glimpse of their future style within the album. It’s uniform throughout: no interludes or prolonged breaks for one to catch their breath. My favorite song from this album is “CRUNCH,” as it’s by far the most sonically violent. But make no mistake—this album is consistent with itself, and “CRUNCH” doesn’t deviate from the main listening experience.

‘BEJIBLE’ is quite a few steps up from their debut album, split directly down the middle and dividing it into two “sides” similar to a vinyl. This is directly stated within “WORST SONG EVER” when Gunkman states “I guess this side of the record’s over now / If you got this […] on vinyl, flip that […] over / If you don’t got this […] on vinyl that makes a lot more sense ’cause we never pressed this […],” during the fade-out of the song. The first side is noticeably more lulling, with a 5 minute opening track—”SYS612 (Bejalvin’s Lament)”—sounding nothing like their usual selves, and then hitting the listener with a wall of noise a third of the way through “BORN MONEY SWAG DIE.” The second side is less polarizing; I find the first side of the album to outshine the second half, but only because of the initial fakeout. The work as a whole is extremely cohesive, with most songs segueing into one another. This trend only continues in their future works.

‘BEJUBSTEP 3’ is the most cohesive of all the albums: it can play front to back with no pauses, and could’ve been released as a giant 19 minute song without any issue. This album features a staggering amount of features and guest artists—only one song out of the 7 track album is made entirely by BEJALVIN. This album also comes with a “full album visual experience” on their YouTube channel, which fits the music perfectly, yet I would not recommend it to anyone who’s sensitive to rapidly flashing lights. This most likely pushed them a bit further into the limelight, and exposed them to fans of the other people they collaborated with.

‘PLANETARY DEVASTATION’ is the most recent release of the duo, and their longest. Clocking in at 33 minutes, it’s intense and is practically an extension of ‘BEJIBLE.’ Fast-paced, loud, and oddly coherent—their effort is clearly shown here through the constant meshing of genres and quick mood changes. Not a single song directly shares a theme, aside from the interlude “SMOKING KILLS” and the following “SPACE ALIEN GANGSTALKERS,” in which the duo compare substance abuse with getting abducted by aliens. Other themes of the songs within the album include shoplifting within “SHOPLIFTING,” dissing Yung Gravy and demanding a grand total of 100 dollars from him within “YUNG GRAVY,” and scrolling on social media within their song “X.” It’s dark comedy combined with noise—something I’ve come to enjoy from them.

In all, BEJALVIN is not for everyone, but they admittedly have refreshing views when it comes to music and self-expression. Additionally, during their live shows, they’re both extremely energetic, even when the crowd is really small, and they make music with a clear passion. I think that anyone who enjoys experimental music should listen to them at least once!