Saturday, May 17, 2008

The Dirty (Baker's) Dozen 1: Discordance Axis

Discordance Axis
The Inalienable Dreamless
Hydra Head
2000
Perfection.
America stood rigid in awestruck carbonite for a few days in 2001. And for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with disaffected Middle Eastern men who unfortunately take their imaginary friend’s advice about air travel. Maybe The Inalienable Dreamless’ impact was quite as seismic culturally as the Sept. 11 attacks, but Discordance Axis’ farewell platter reverberated throughout the grindcore underworld. Seven years after their demise Discordance Axis still stands as the almost Platonic ideal of grindcore
Siege laid the groundwork, Napalm Death gave the scene a name and a defining sound, Carcass remains one its most beloved progenitors, but Discordance Axis perfectly embodies all that grindcore was and everything it could be. If I could only introduce somebody to grind through one album, it would be The Inalienable Dreamless.
Just as America was about to embark on a pair of poorly conceived wars, Discordance Axis left the trappings of grindcore history – rants against military and political shenanigans that had gone stale in the 14 years since Mick Harris thumped out the first blastbeat.
Lead off track “Castration Rites” hands you your nuts in a minute burst of piranha blasts, midalbum standout “Jigsaw” sputters and starts like a warped bit of machinery and penultimate bruiser, the aptly titled “A Leaden Stride to Nowhere” delivered just that, a five minute trudge unlike anything the band ever put to tape (with the exception of the space opera “Berzerk” on the three way split with 324 and Corrupted).
Instead of cliché ridden diatribes Jon Chang’s confident lyrics stripmined Japanese culture, particularly manga and anime, using cartoon metaphors to cloak weighty meditations on loneliness, insecurity, despair and paranoia, crafting an intensely personal brand of grind that has yet to be even equaled let alone surpassed.
Though The Inalienable Dreamless is arguably the greatest burst of grind set to silicon (hell, I’m arguing it right here), Discordance Axis just never cracked the wider metal scene to garner the attention they deserved. But that quietly building cult status may be part of the band’s charm and enduring appeal. It’s winning the golden ticket to tour Chang’s neon lit demimonde.
Of all the bazillion bands and kajillion albums Dave Witte has put his name to, he told me this is his favorite when I interviewed him recently. That’s about the best endorsement you’re gonna get.
“I never had a spiritual connection with a guitarist like I had with Rob [Marton],” he said. A lot of times we’d be jamming and stop together. We were feeling each other out.”
Unfortunately, Marton would develop a nerve condition that would make him extremely sensitive to loud noises – like a top flight grind band jamming in a practice space or shredding a stage during one of their sparsely attended shows.
Though Marton has since recovered and even jammed with Witte, the drummer said the guitarist has little interest in diving back into music full time, so The Inalienable Dreamless will stand as both the band’s tombstone and its milestone.
“I wish the mix and recording was a little different,” Witte said but quickly pushed aside his own quibbles. “That was such an amazing experience.”
"I Will Live Forever – Alone” Chang morosely announced on the back cover of the album’s unique DVD box packaging. He had the first part right. Grinders will be turning to this timeless album for inspiration for decades to come. Discordance Axis will indeed live forever, but the band will be surrounded by adoring fans and far from alone.

12 comments:

Zmaj said...

I can only agree - the absolute pinnacle of grindcore! No other band comes even close to what DA achieved with this (well, at least for now, though it's really hard for me to imagine anything topping TID).

What I find kinda weird is how there are so few bands trying to emulate the sound, but one band that comes to my mind when I think about DA influenced stuff is Agents of Abhorrence. Have any more suggestions?

Excellent blog, btw.

Andrew Childers said...

Check out Asterisk* if you haven't already. Chang did the art and they sound like a slightly more sci-fi version of DA with a fixation on postmodern philosophy.

Zmaj said...

I heard Asterisk for the first time quite recently on a compilation (the one with the huge name starting with "Dynamite With A Laserbeam"), and they stood out as one of my favorites on the comp.
And I wasn't aware of the fact than Jon Chang did the artwork, so thanks for the info!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

hi

can anyone help me
i have tried for over a week now to get a loan,i have very bad credit history mainly due to a failed marrage ,i have had all the usual ,wh loans,advantage loans ,yes loans ,get in touch and promise a [url=http://www.usainstantpayday.com]bad credit loans[/url] on paying the brokerage fee,i am reluctant due to reviews on the net and i have been stung before by a company called wentorth finance ,and never got the loan of the 50 pound fee back,
i have had an offer from flm but need a gaurantor which isnt really an option either .
i wondered if anyone had any loan companys that considered bad credit ,but loaned direct without these numerous sites with different alias but mainly did same thing pay us and we will get u loan (maybe)senario
has anyone also heard of a company called fresh loans they have they sent me details out but the may be a charge but not always ,i suspect she didnt want to tell me there was a charge

thanks
Pymnenhatte

Anonymous said...

loved las vegas? manufacture definite the all reborn [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com]casino[/url] las vegas at www.casinolasvegass.com with on the other side of 75 up to the minute ad lib [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com]online casino[/url] games like slots, roulette, baccarat, craps and more and attain a gratifying in judiciary critique riches with our $400 cost-free bonus.
we be uninterrupted unvaried highbrows b wealthier games then the senescent online [url=http://www.place-a-bet.net/]casino[/url] www.place-a-bet.net!

Anonymous said...

[color=#c3d9ff]Hello

With the continuing rise in popularity of facebook poker chips as a virtual currency in facebook texas holdem poker many scammers have engaged themselves, who try their best to trick unsuspecting players out of their hard earned facebook poker chips. All over the internet forums are littered with posts by innocent people who have had their poker chips stolen. Nothing is as sorry state as logging to Facebook or MySpace to play a few hands of poker only to find that your account is hacked and your poker chips are gone.[/color]

[url=http://www.chipshut.com][img]http://www.chipshut.com/img/facebook-poker-chips-hut.jpg[/img][/url]

[color=#c3d9ff]Follow these tips to keep your facebook poker chips safe:

Never give your password to a stranger: Trust is a delicate thing that takes a long time to build but only second to destroy. You may meet a pretending star in poker room and you are friends with him/her. He/she will keep interacting with you days before playing her trick. So be carefull enough to protect your login credentials to yourself, else this may lead to disaster.

Be careful about what you download: Professional online gamers are looking for cheats or hacks for the games they play in order to give them an advantage on their opponents. Poker is no different and there are many websites on the internet having facebook poker cheats and hacks for those brave enough to download and install them. But many of these so called facebook poker cheats have viruses or trojan programs. The moment you install any of these your computer is at the risk of attacks by the creator of the program. He can then have access to vital information that you access from your computer. Leaving your facebook poker account at risk of been hacked. If you never downloaded any of these programs then you’re probably safe, and if you have then you should run a spyware detection program. The best move will be for get your computer formatted to avoid any loop holes.

Phishing Links: This way of hacking has been thee for quite sometime now. Theives send legitimate and official looking emails to your inbox. When you open them you are asked to click on the link and login in order to save your account or win free facebook poker chips, but in reality you are logging into a fake site that sends your information off to the theif who made it. Before you find it out, its too late to react and they would have already broken into your account and emptied it of any facebook poker chips that you may have.

YouTube scams: If you do a search on youtube for facebook poker cheats, zynga poker hacks, or free facebook poker chips you’ll find hundreds of videos on the topic. More than 90% of them are made by idiots hoping to convince you to send them your account information. They range from slightly clever to completely moronic.

Image Photo Having Exe Embedded In it: This one is hard to catch. This is the latest fashion that is used by hacker, you will be asked to share family photo's. When you open their photo, that will innitiate an exe in the background which will steal all your information and send to the mastermind behin it. So be careful with whom you share photos.

Hope these tips help you saving your chips.

These tips have been brought to you by [/color][url=http://www.chipshut.com]Chips Hut[/url][color=#c3d9ff] if you are looking to buy [/color][url=http://www.chipshut.com]facebook poker chips[/url], [color=#c3d9ff]you may go to our online store.

Thanks[/color][img]http://www.chipshut.com/img/chips-hut-smily.gif[/img]

cialis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Inversiones en oro said...

hello, i would like to read more post about this topic.

Invertir en oro said...

Hello, i think that this post is the best that i have read

raymeds said...

It is an interesting sound, the drummer is so good.

luky-west said...

Texas Holdem Poker Hack Tool - Get Free Chips & Gold - http://www.spixgames.com/facebook-game-hacks/facebook-texas-holdem-poker-hack-tool/