3 out of 5

Label: self released

Produced by: ‘Kevin 131’ (recorded with)

Somewhere in Philly, some times in 2001, a guitar-bass-drums trio named Dysrhythmia was likely taking the stage at various venues and murdering ears with an electric blend of hardcore, post-rock, prog, jazz, thrash, and experimental noodling.  Never getting too fussy intra-track so as to prevent consistently head-bangable beats, but also showing, with each style shift, mastery of the patience of push and pull, and willingness to go all-out hardcore in time.  I would have been thirsting for an album to capture that, had I been at one of those somewhere some time venues.

And so the group provided: self-releasing ‘No Interference:’ 11 tracks that swirl around all of those above-mentioned genres, kicking off with the grooving Body Destroyed, Brain Intact, which sprinkles in a light dub sensibility while herky-jerking into start-stop rhthyms.  It would seem the promise of the live show has been fulfilled.

…Alas, that same energy that can get a crowd vibing, trancelike, sometimes falls flat in the studio: Craving For Transformation steps into more improvised territory, losing some of the first track’s steam, and while the subsequent next couple of tracks make good with some jazziness and shredding, the 10-minute Let You Fall is an experiment in tension without a payoff, letting its notes drift away, no buildup, and thus no resolution.  Relistening to the song without expectations, it’s definitely interesting, but betrays No Interference’s inconsistencies as an album, trying too hard to incorporate all the fused bits and pieces at which the group is no doubt capable and forgoing a consistent run of hard hitting tracks as a result.  In the disc’s last third, it seems like a lot of the experimentation is complete and they get down to business with some shorter songs, indicating – especially on concluding thrasher Four, Five, Six Minutes Late – some of the directions later albums would take, but now having heard those later albums, you’re likely to opt toward those more optimized experiences instead.

I would by no means have been dissatisfied with No Interference as my first Dysrhthymia disc – it’s got some definite rockers, and the restraint the group displays immediately sets them apart from more flashy (i.e. run out of steam easily) instrumental acts, but I think you could also sense that it was a prelude to better things.