Ipecac

It's a funny thing — when a band names themselves after a genre they purport to be working in, the listener may approach the band with unwarranted expectations. It's only on rare occasions throughout the course of Another Sound Is Dying, that dub, in the classic sense, ever surfaces. Punk Trio, Metal Trio, or Thrash Trio seem more accurate most of the time, in a strict genre sense. It’s only after the listener puts on a pair of headphones, that it becomes evident that this band does owe as much credit to King Tubby as they do to Bad Brains.

The stuff is raw, powerful and unbelievably precise. Owing to their collective experience as session players (drummer Joe Tomino, bassist Stu Brooks, and guitarist D.P. Holmes have recorded and/or toured with the likes of Gnarls Barkley, The Who, 50 Cent, Mos Def, Common, The Fugees, Tupac, Matisyahu, and Gogol Bordello) it's their experience with Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, etc.) that really defines their style. The trio stood as the only regular members of Patton's project Peeping Tom. Accordingly, Patton guests on the politically-charged "No Flag," which stands alone on the instrumental-heavy album. Through all the meaty riffing and stop-on-a-dime transitions, it's producer/engineer Joel Hamilton who truly stands out, arranging all the bedlam across sonic space.

Not for the faint of heart, this is the brand of reggae (if you can even call it such) that is more concerned with revolution than peaceably abiding in one love. Dark, aggressive, and occasionally cocky, if anyone's taking the genre new places, it's these guys.