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I am interested in music which is purely rhythmic (where there is little variation in notes and instruments, the main interest of the music is the rhythmic patterns) preferably with unusual rhythmic patterns.
Is there any sub genre which corresponds with this?
Otherwise, are there specific songs/artists I could look at?
I haven't been able to find much on Google.
If you're looking for unique rhythms, definitely listen to some mathcore bands. I'd highly recommend Frontierer; their music has very complex rhythms and is also somewhat atonal (the guitars are so downtuned that you can barely tell what notes are being played), so it might be right up your alley. Some others I'd recommend are Sectioned, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, and Dillinger Escape Plan.
Another genre that focuses less on rhythmic complexity but more on sound design, but is still very atonal, is power noise (a.k.a. rhythmic noise). It's a subgenre of industrial music. One of my favorites in the genre (and of electronic music in general) is Shock Front by Converter.
Taiko music. There aren't many unusual patterns but sure as hell the rhythms are intense and interesting.
As an example, see (because seeing is, IMHO, part of the experience) this show.
There is no musical genre to my knowledge that is purely rhythmic as the whole point of music is the changes of pitches using different instruments. However, some cool genres that have cool rhythmic patterns with varying pitches include but are not limited to Ars antiqua, Baião, and Math Rock. You can check out the full list of musical styles here.
Hope that helped
