If the sheer number of bands operating under the technical metalcore banner hasn’t started to bother you, it should. Since the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan exploded onto the scene in the mid to late 90’s, it seems that everyone and their mother has put out a CD to document their attempts at capturing the aforementioned band’s dissonant riffs and twisted rhythmic schemes. Few were successful, until Drowningman came along. They succeeded where others failed, but their achievement was not due to the photogenic mimicry that plagued their contemporaries. What set them apart from the pack was the smooth addition of new elements (i.e., emotional melodic phrases) to an old formula. To the credit of their peers, Drowningman was not the first band to experiment in this manner. However, they were one of very few to make a truly significant contribution to the genre, which had become mediocre on its best days, and painfully listless on its worst.

Enter Ion Dissonance: a French-Canadian quintet that has almost saved the day with their debut album for Willowtip. An immediately noticeable difference between these guys and others of their style is the level of enthusiasm they portray, which comes across nicely on all of this disc’s nine tracks. Additionally, the band members seem to realize that they are at a stage of the game where nothing less than absolute tightness and technical precision will suffice. In response, they flaunt their instrumental skills at every turn. The intricacy of their riffing combined with the flawless time-keeping skills of drummer Jean-Francois Richard is enough drive most DEP clones into early retirement.

As highlights go, I found the all-around craziness of «The Bud Dwyer Effect» to be especially invigorating, although «Failure in the Process of Identifying a Dream» (which shows a moodier, more melodic side to ID’s repertoire) is certainly a standout track as well. «Binary, Part II» is easily my favorite cut, as it alternates harsh screams and malevolent guitar licks with eerily quiet jazz sections which contain mumbled dialogue and echoing laughter in the background. My final pick would be «A Regular Dose of Azure», which starts out with the same punishing fervor that is displayed on the other tracks, but ends with a dual guitar-solo that reminds me more of Armored Saint than the influences one would expect from a band of this sort.

I must commend Willowtip on their decision to sign Ion Dissonance, as their method of aggression is somewhat different from the likes of Sadis Euphoria or Kalibas. There are few out there who are operating at this level of calculated chaos, and I dare say that even fewer will arise in the near future. If you are among those who think that the technical metalcore genre has shown all it has to offer (and I must admit to having felt this way a mere week ago), think again.

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