BARRIERS AND PASSAGES

Philly monsters Dysrhythmia pull you into their realm and nail you to the ground in a frantic and most interesting way on their 2006 release. Born of metallic roots but abandoning the clean, unforgiving and disciplined nature of metal for a liberated and emotional sound, this trio do a sort of math- thrash with just the right amounts of precision bombing mixed with old-school garage mechanics. Their simple sound and cavalier attitude masks a deceptively tight group of guys who know exactly what they're doing, and this unit turned in one of the most vigorous sessions that year.

Each of the ten tracks are essentially controlled chaos, urgent calculus-core, a band that throws out any number of blows for us to deal with before they kick our ass with tough, heavy-bottom gonking from bassist Colin Marsden, kick-your-teeth-in batterie Jeff Eber and Kevin Hufnagel's mean and dirty guitar. These boys are street fighters... it's not about the money and they don't want your watch. They just wanna push you up against a wall and slap you around before breaking multiple bones in your body. Urban, depraved, predatory, there's little you can do but appreciate the method to their madness and hope you get through it. Exhilarating and complex, no vocals or solos to distract, at once fascinating and hideous, entirely progressive, Dysrhythmia should be experienced at least once so you'll know what to look out for next time you're alone on the streets.