Dysrhythmia – Test Of Submission

As their name already says, Dysrhythmia are a crazy insane extremely technical and I don’t know what else
instrumental progressive metal band. So it has been three years from their last release “Psychic Maps” in 2009 and finally it’s time again for the three insane Americans to release their new and sixth album called “Test of Submission”.

The music is very difficult to understand and to be heard especially to persons who have less trained ears, because of the complexicity of the songs, the insane time signatures and of course the fact that it is instrumental music mixed with so many styles of jazz ’till various styles of metal including death and progressive. So it’s very hard to describe the exact style they are playing, one must hear it to get a taste.

With this album Dysrhythmia have a better sense of progression reaching new creative heights in constructing and blending sections from ornate order to callous cacophony. The album contains eight tracks, which some are good (with this musicality and technical skills it’s almost impossible to write bad tracks) and some other are really good, but I think none of them are really “stunning” or “amazing”.

That which is amazing on these guys is the contrast of throbbing technical forays and soaring incisions of melody dominating the whole affair. “Running Toward the End” is the best example of this balance and arguably the best song here. “In Consequence” sees both ends of the spectrum the band straddles, stretched and blown up to the extreme and seethes with a peculiar darkness instrumental bands rarely pick up on. To the opposite of that lies the phenomenal “The Madness of Threes”, its fusion-esque spiraling and melodic richness causing it to feel multiple times bigger than its four-minute run time allows!

Overall in 45 minutes jazzy underpinnings ring out more on this album than any of their previous releases and ;;Test Of Submission” is all the better for it. For instrumental music, this album is also very tight and sometimes atmospheric. In conclusion I think they have released better albums but whoever loves instrumental madness, this album is highly recommended!