Another Sound Is Dying

Dub Trio

Ipecac

2008-01-28

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Another Sound is Dying is another genre-bending Ipecac treat, despite Dub Trio’s seemingly stylistically and descriptively-specific name. In the main the assembled trio of Brooklyn residents Stu Brookes, DP Holmes and Joe Tomino, bash out riff after riff of metallic frenzy right up in the heavy realms of the spectrum, however this is often undercut or peppered with the Jamaican style found in the band’s title. Dub is an experimental and jammed-out genre working with bassy grooves, punchy percussion and one which is generally instrumental, and though it could be done so incredibly badly, Dub Trio marry up riddims with raw instrumental post-metal very well. Perhaps heavier than any of their previous offerings and perhaps more focused, Another Sound… is an energetic and engaging record.

much more Meshuggah than King Tubby

Introducing itself with a deep, groove-heavy riff which would exercise the neck muscles of a majority of metal fans the album powers through fourteen tracks which never stay in the same vein for too long. By no means overly schizophrenic or too mental, the songs blend easily from the big riffs into post-hardcore breakdowns and post-rock pickings or from mid-pace dub bounces into blastbeat-underpinned punk-rock-outs and electronic noise trickery. Overall Another Sound is Dying is much more Loincloth, Dillinger Escape Plan or Meshuggah than King Tubby or Lee “Scrath” Perry but its proficient and somehow catchy enough to appeal to open minded fans of either circle. The playing is tight and punchy, wild enough to go places but focused enough not to bite off too much. The technical ability of the trio has been proved in various musical areas previous to their current venture — their cumulative CV listing session work and tours playing with artists including 50 Cent, Mos Def, The Fugees and Tupac — and their live show has impressed many, especially on their recent tour supporting Peeping Tom (the band also played within the Peeping Tom line-up and contributed to one of the album’s tracks — and Mike Patton returns the favour here with the obligatory yet probably unnecessary vocal cameo track). The real achievement here though is the most obvious one though — to make two disparate musical forms so linked that they fall in and out of each other at the band’s will seemingly so effortlessly and without ever sounding gimmicky or too contrived — though perhaps sometimes just a little smile-raising.