With announcement that Cynic had made the final cut for this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party line-up came a raised right eyebrow and a few questions.
Why weren’t Intronaut and Dysrhythmia on the bill too?
Didn’t those three join forces for a month long jaunt of masterful musicianship proportions?
Don’t tell me Seattle gets the shaft on this one.
I was eventually relieved when I found out that Infinite Productions (who always has Seattle’s metal interests at heart) had saved the day by booking the others on their off night. Have no fear Seattle, we get to have our cake and fucking eat it too this Sunday night at the Funhouse.
Dysrhythmia will exterminate all expectations of what metal was, is, and can be. The far reaching musical influences and technical prowess of this virtuosic trio are wound tightly together creating the ultimate in jazz-forward avant-garde instrumental metal. In 2009, after a hiatus the band returned to work and created “Psychic Maps”-- a further experiment in outside the box metal mastery, but nothing can top 2003’s “Pretest”, as it still stands one of most prolific and unconventional metal releases to date. It’s also worthwhile to note that what Dysrhythmia does live can best be summed up as highly skilled musicians playing the FUCK out of their instruments-- an idea I’m quite fond of.
Progressive post-metal band Intronaut is also heavily influenced by jazz music, but where they differ from tour mates Cynic and Dysrhythmia is-- instead of taking the experimental road less traveled-- they rely more on the time honored muscle of the sludge metal riff. When we talk about a band being heavy we are mainly speaking to the weighty nature of their guitar tones. Yes, a thunderous rhythm section can play a larger picture part in labeling a band’s sound as heavy, but heavy starts first and foremost with a guitar sound that is most frequently the result of a drop d or lower tuning and the use of various strumming techniques and specialized equipment (amps and such). To this end, Intronaut has perfected the art of sludge metal and like so many of their forefathers they bestow said heavy musical output upon willing audiophiles with the utmost in punishing proficiency. The twist comes courtesy of the nimble fret work of bassist Joe Lester and the bands frequent delicate interludes.
Opening this show is Galdr and Book of Black Dudes? What this curiously named offshoot of Seattle’s own Book of Black Earth is all about exactly, I haven’t the foggiest at this moment in time. I guess it will be determined Sunday evening.
Words by Nik Christofferson
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