Ion Dissonance

As a truly blood-curdling scream kicks off "Substantial Guilt vs. The Irony of Enjoying,” the leadoff track from Ion Dissonance’s Breathing Is Irrelevant, followed by a grind run, all sorts of overly intricate mayhem and huge slabs of down-tuned riffing, all within the first 30 seconds, it’s all you can do to hang on for the next half hour. Ion Dissonance bucks, kicks and rampages like an ADD-suffering, coke-addled bull being electrocuted at uneven intervals. Of course, the more they try to buck and trample you, the better the ride. Ion Dissonance quickly leaps from metallic moment to moment, whether it be relentlessly precise older Fear Factory-style death/thrash, slow, plodding double-kick battering breakdowns, or insane technical flights down the rabbit hole that recall fellow Canadians Cryptopsy, the End or even the mighty Dillinger Escape Plan, although Ion Dissonance is way more angular and death/grind-inspired in their metal. Sure, Ion Dissonance discards constantly, but unlike a lot of tech/parts-core, they manage to lock onto grooves even as they do their best to lose you in a jumble of time signatures, runs and riffs. Breathing Is Irrelevant is like getting tattooed by a jackhammer: it fucking hurts and you’ll be maimed for life.