:: Annihilation (split 10" w/ xthoughtstreamsx) ::

1. "Since the debut "Contradiction“ I have got taken Dysrhythmia into my heart. Last summer was coming the great follow-up "no interference“. Now a vinyl-sampler with the inexpressible black metal avant prog heads xthoughstreamsx. Both bands go wild every in about 10 minutes. Dysrhythmia playing Annihilition II and I, both like the sooner songs in a hard-harsh progressive alternative rock. Free, disharmonic and great. The first part annihilation II is having a psychedelic touch additional. Quiet goes the minimalistic melody, with some dissonant figures, collapsing after a short and hard highpoint. The following annihilation I is having a more strong and song structure. The accords of the guitar playing is harsh and noisy. A brutaly bass and the arranging drums comes together with the guitar, before the song is going into a fascinating prog jazz metal. Outstanding class & a really good work. XthoughstreamsX have another idea in her head. The three musicians make black avant prog metal contamined with jazz without comparison. The music is extremely dark, however with a strange, comic feeling in some short moments. The four songs got have furthermore free jazz tones out of the trumpet! The I-don´t-can-thinking-so-deep-voice of Alex Nagle makes me dizzy, a deep abyss! X playing instrumental the most. "Woodshed Grind“ is a malicious comicstrip, very complex, wild, just like John Zorn in his filmworks. The next song is talking about Zappa-hearing and self-confidence of the musicians. Who is playing that good between complexidity and simplicity and is sounding not stupid with it, who is having my respect. Unfortunately just a short mini album, unfortunately vinyl (not all can hear it), unfortunately limited – it´s not an album for the masses. But we have to see, maybe Dysrhythmia will take the song onto a following album as a bouns track. And maybe X bring out a long player. We have to wait – and hear this good music for the while." [translated from german]  Volkmar Mantei - Ragazzi (Germany)

2. "Dysrhymthia Start things out with an atmospheric piece that builds and builds before they kick into some serious tech/math metal reminiscent of Breadwinner. xThoughtStreamsx has members of Amalgamation kicking out the hyper caffeinated speed/black/tech metal with plenty of (get this) trumpet. Mayhem doing guitar gymnastics with the soundtrack to a Spaghetti western playing in the background at times. They're aptly named because they're seriously all over the place, but are not sloppy at all. Yes, this really is meant to be played @ 45. Red vinyl if that's your thing." - Level Plane Distro (US)

3. "Dysrhythmia starts out with "Annihilation II" - quiet, spacious harmonics and cymbals, gradually introducing dense bass and drums. It definitely has that open/improvisational sort of progressive rock feel to it, subtly creating a nice melodic atmosphere. There's only one brief moment where the rhythm section locks into a set pattern for a short time. I do notice that some of the cymbal crashes sound like shit though, with a thin/hissy layer of distortion hovering over them (which is odd since everything else is crisp and warm). "Annihilation I" kicks in next with driving basslines and full guitar chords that eventually get more into the technical riffing offered up on their last full-length. There's some discordance to the note combinations and the usual dose of bizarre time changes, etc. The production is quite nice, the mix is really clear and the tones work well (aside from the distortion hovering over the treble tones). Overall this is similar to their past work, but I feel like there's better fluidity, a greater sense of cohesiveness to the flow. XthoughtstreamsX is next, and talk about bizarre! Heavy guitars and bass with drum machines, plus trumpets and keyboards, alongside growling death metal vocals!? The guitar runs can range from super technical and melodic leads to pure noise. The writing is very chaotic and disjointed, it often feels as if each element is off doing its own thing. "Woodshed Grind" is even an insane mix of grindcore and hokey techno!? I like some of the drum programming, and the guitarists are really talented, some of the complex runs are fucking wild… The lyrics are both humorous and serious, in keeping with the confusing musical approach. You'll be hard pressed to find another band out there like this… I don't know, it's just unbelievably abrasive and weird! The recording here isn't bad either, all I'd do is turn the bass up. However, these songs also have the same issue with the high end distortion, so it must be some sort of vinyl/mastering problem? It's a damn shame, because everything else is perfectly clear and smooth without that crackling distortion cutting in. The layout is simple and effective (notably Dysrhythmia's portion) with photos and liner notes, plus the 10" itself is on slick transparent red vinyl. This is cool stuff, it would definitely be better without that fucked up distortion problem though, that really has a negative impact on the listening experience. 6/10 - aversionline (US)

4."This ideal sized, red vinyl records gets the award Most Accurate Band Names. Dysrhythmia's first song ("Annihilation II") is a spacey, ambient buildup to the angular rock attack of the second song ("Annihilation I"). They've got such a huge sound, it's hard to believe this is only a three-piece. These two instrumentals would make a fucking awesome movie soundtrack. XthoughtstreamsX blend warp speed, technical metal with elements of free jazz and grind. This trio utilizes a drum machine and sheet music as well, so you know I'm all about it. The guitars shred with reckless abandon and a complete disregard for conventional time signatures, complementing the awesome trumpet improv action. Most of my friends feel unsafe when I listen to this while driving. This is the most interesting band I've heard in eons, pushing the musical envelope in a direction that gives me a ferocious boner."- Will Megabeef (US)

5.  "XthoughtstreamsX are a new band from Washington DC who play incredibly fast avant technical metal with the help of trumpets and drum machines. described by one person as "a musical orgy".
dysrhythmia are an instrumental prog trio that tastefully display their chops whether they are creating a lush soundscape or rocking the fuck out." - PLANARIA DISTRIBUTION (US)

6. This is some of the most interesting and intriguing metal I have heard lately…from both of these bands. And the great thing is that both artists are completely different and are extremely unique. Both bands are fairly young and this 10'' split shows the diversity of each of theirs music. XthoughstreamsX is the first band you experience, contributing four songs to the split. Wow is their music a fucking sugar rush! It's absolutely off the wall. The music is extremely technical guitarwork that is excruciatingly fast at times, mixed with some great trumpet playing that I believe is heavily influenced by jazz fusion, and raw influences of hardcore and extreme metal. All of this combined is quite a trip, I have to say…maybe almost a little too much to take in first listen, but you'll fall in love with it quickly. Their 50-second crusher "Woodshed Grind" is cunning, insane grind with programmed drumming including programmed blast beats to add a whole new feel to it. But probably the two most addicting songs are "Hardcore, Indie, Pop" and "Something I Know." "Hardcore, Indie, Pop" almost hops between genres, from a keyboard introduction that follows you into a pounding, hardcore segment and then spits you out to a great trumpet solo, which doesn't calm things down at all. "Something I Know" has a lot of experimental guitar parts to it, which is the major feature in the song. All of XthoughtstreamsX' songs are very energetic and charismatic, with very fresh sounds and ideas that I always love to hear from new extreme metal bands. It's a great re-assurance that there is still innovation and experimentation with new ideas in the scene still. I could probably live without their vocals though and they might just be better off without them. Some might have a negative reaction to these guys at first, but I doubt it for most. Nobody can deny how much intensity and power there is in their music and also how interesting and intriguing it is at the same time.

Dysrhythmia then gets two tracks (a little unbalanced perhaps), which are completely different from XthoughtstreamsX, although still point towards experimentation and new ideas to put into their music. Their first song, "Annihilation II," is slow, mellow, and very relaxing, which is a great chill pill after enduring XthoughtstreamsX's insane, four numbers. It reminds me a little bit of the first track from Maudlin of the Well's album "Bath" entitled "The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth" mostly because of the similar way they use the harmonics. "Annihilation II," the last track, is quite different. It opens with a very upbeat bass line and drum beat, and the guitars follow with the same feel, with a very rocking sound, and some great guitar riffs.

Great stuff, seriously…both of these bands are awesome with lots of potential. My only complaint is that I think both bands really hop around with different genres and sometimes fusing them together at times (especially XthoughtstreamsX). So sometimes it feels like they aren't really playing one solid sound, and they're just sort of trying to cover as much musical ground as possible. But don't let this discourage you at all about checking both of these bands out. XthoughtstreamsX and Dysrhythmia both equally have lots to offer to your ears, that is very fresh, innovative, intriguing, and moving.
Rating: 8.5 / 10 - Defenestrated (US)

7. If you like this, try- Orthrelm "Aristir Vieldriox"

This is a split between 2 very interesting bands in the independent music scene. Dysrhythmia is from Philly & I'm not sure where xThoughstreamsX are from, but they have members of Amalgamation.

The Dysrhythmia side is made up of 2 songs. Both songs (as all Dysrhythmia songs) are instrumental. The first one starts off very quietly & kinda ends up building up & then getting quieter again. I don't like that song much as it kinda bores me...but the 2nd song is probably one of my favorite Dysrhythmia songs. This band is extremely talented "mathmetal" (as the Level-Plane site calls it, which seems fitting) & anyone who likes anything w/alot of talented or more prog-rock sounding hardcore, this is yr band!

Now, xThoughstreamsX is a band that I had never heard of before listening to this & I really don't know much about, but they're awesome! It's like, prog-influenced black metal...w/a trumpet! How fucking awesome is that?!? Needless to say, their 4 tracks are very, very good. I also must commend their great lyric writing in "Hardcore, Indie, Pop", where the only lyrics in the entire song are "Holy Fuck! I've got the exact same glasses as you and you and you and you..."

So yeah, this is a really good fucking record. I actually don't own this yet, but I plan on purchasing it soon...& you should too! - JD Masterdik  (US)