“I just love acoustic guitar and the combination of heavy guitars and acoustic thumbing,” Hufnagel says. The guitarist’s style is a big reason why this record sounds so dynamic and compelling after more than one listen. Critics have dubbed the band as everything from technical post-rock, which doesn’t jibe with Dysrhythmia’s jarring immediacy, to prog metal, which again would suggest the music puts on airs that it simply doesn’t.

In the past, the band’s approach to recording has been to bring the forceful energy of its live show to a 50-odd-minute album. Throw in high-profile producers Steve Albini, who produced the band’s highly acclaimed 2003 Pretest (Relapse) album, and Martin Bisi, whose bona fides include working with Brian Eno and producing scores of classic underground artists (Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, John Zorn, Sereena Maneesh), and you have the structure that birthed the band’s last two records.

But this time was different. Although the band would’ve loved to work with Bisi again, he had retired. Thankfully, they had a ready solution to the question of who would produce the new album in bassist Colin Marston, a sound engineer who has worked with the likes of Genghis Tron and Child Abuse. The band decided to hole up in their Brooklyn apartment and record the album on their own.

The relative freedom of being able to take their time to record led the band to explore new directions. “It allowed me to do more things guitar-wise as far as adding a lot of orchestral embellishments, more guitar layers,” Hufnagel says. “There’s lots of stuff to listen to in the mix. I wasn’t concerned with it sounding exactly like we do live; that can get boring.”

Although their intensity never wavers, playing live and recording are definitely two different things for Dysrhythmia. Hufnagel is happy to start using the studio as a more exploratory stage to craft songs that the band has played for sometimes up to two whole years before recording.

The lapse in time could be partially explained by the band members’ own hyperactive involvement in other projects. Hufnagel recently released a full-length solo album entitled Songs for the Disappeared; Hufnagel and Marston are new members of recently reformed Canadian metallers Gorguts; and Marston was, until December of 2008, still working with his former band Behold…the Arctopus.

“We all have so many different things now. So rather than try to throw it all into one band and end up sounding like Mr. Bungle or something, we’d rather really focus our energy elsewhere,” he says.

And right now the energy is focused on Dysrhythmia. Where contemporaries such as Mastodon and Isis have taken off in the past few years thanks to a burgeoning interest in independent metal, Dysrhythmia is still lurking in the shadows, nursing a fan base that’s been created during a decade of touring.

Hufnagel sighs heavily when I remind him of his band‘s age — it’s not a sigh of defeat, of course, but simply one of amazement. This is a band that has earned its following, not gained it overnight; and Hufnagel knows that in many ways, that’s the following that you want to have.

Now departed from Relapse Records, tech-core riff masters The Dillinger Escape Plan have begun a "creative umbrella" under French avant-metal label Season of Mist. Option Paralysis, only its fourth full-length album, finds the band continuing to perfect the sound that has evolved since the exit of original singer Dimitri Minakakis (after Calculating Infinity) and original drummer Chris Pennie (after Miss Machine).

The result is an album that is similar in feel to Ire Works, its previous album, but one that relatively scales back the ornate instrumental complements to emphasize the aural punishment. The pizzicato strings that appeared on Ire Works make a brief cameo at the beginning of "Gold Teeth on a Bum," yet the stirring piano ballads make as many or more appearances — notably as the crux of the beautiful and briefly jazzy "Widower" and as the coda of "I Wouldn't if You Didn't."

"Farewell, Mona Lisa," the disc's opener, is an epic jam that combines most of the band's crucial elements — molten rhythms, jaw-shattering power chords, and harmonic choruses. After another half hour of assaulting listeners, Option Paralysis then closes with one of the band's best songs, "Parasitic Twins," which makes use of a piano-pop bridge and a hot-blooded rock-and-roll outro.

Like any DEP album, Option Paralysis becomes more and more enjoyable with subsequent listens. Whether or not this vies to be the band's best album, The Dillinger Escape Plan proves again that it is utterly peerless.

The Dillinger Escape Plan: "Farewell, Mona Lisa"
The Dillinger Escape Plan: \"Farewell, Mona Lisa\"

J.G. Thirlwell: Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters (Tzadik)

A man of many aliases, J.G. Thirlwell is the mastermind behind the unclassifiable industrial oddities of the Foetus moniker and all its incarnations. His instrumental work, which strongly calls upon classical and big-band orchestrations, also has taken many forms, including Manorexia, Steroid Maximus, and the soundtrack for The Venture Bros. TV show.

Whereas Steroid Maximus and the Venture Bros. music veer towards spy noir and cinematic sounds, the sample-based Manorexia material trends towards spacier, textured, celestial works that drift in and out of dark chamber pieces. On The Mesopelagic Waters, Thirlwell's first release under this name since 2002, the Manorexia back catalog is re-imagined and reconfigured with the help of a live string quartet and percussion ensemble.

Ultimately, many pieces are as tranquil or sorrowful as their originals, but a stronger sense of drama is present throughout the album. "Zithromax Jitters" is a pulsing, pounding rendition with sporadic piano accompaniment that is even darker than its first version.

Thirlwell's adventure into the world of avant-classical composition has drawn well-earned praise, and the Australian native just debuted his second piece for the Kronos Quartet at Carnegie Hall. With another studio album of Manorexia material and a new Foetus release slated for later this year, Thirlwell is staying as prolific as ever.

J.G. Thirlwell: "Zithromax Jitters"
J.G. Thirlwell: \"Zithromax Jitters\"

Autechre: Oversteps (Warp)

For years, many have remarked upon the esoteric nature of Autechre, an English electronic duo that has captivated as well as puzzled listeners, particularly as it evolved into its complex brand of IDM.

A common generalization of Autechre is that its creations are atonal noise, but refined listeners will note that its melodies are subtle and elongated, often teeming below a blippy or abrasive surface. The music is as dependent on atmosphere as on what can seem like chaos. Other times, melodies are front and center, such as for the twinkling sounds of "See on See."

Regardless, Oversteps is inaccessible to those not in search of otherworldly sounds and tricky rhythms. For those who can dig it, however, Autechre remains as genius and unique as ever.

Autechre: "Known(1)"
Autechre: \"Known(1)\"

John Zorn / The Dreamers: Ipos: The Book Of Angels vol. 14 (Tzadik)

As the third release by The Dreamers, Ipos continues John Zorn's expansive Book of Angels, his second Masada songbook that features 300 songs written in just three months.

The material that Zorn has written for The Dreamers is some of his most accessible, calling upon tropical, exotica, Latin, surf, and film styles to craft a serene musical journey. The sextet, which does not utilize Zorn as a player, receives key contributions from vibraphonist Kenny Wollessen and guitarist Marc Ribot, whose instruments are key to the relaxed style.

]Honorable Mentions

Bonobo: Black Sands (Ninja Tune)

High Places: High Places vs. Mankind (Thrill Jockey)

Joe Zawinul & Absolute Ensemble: Absolute Zawinul (Sunnyside)

Kid606: Songs About Fucking Steve Albini (Important)

Jamie Saft: Soundtracks (Tzadik)

Serena Maneesh: S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor (4AD)

"I Just Want To See Your Face" (available on their MySpace page).

Serena Maneesh: S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor

01 Ayisha Abyss
02 I Just Want to See Your Face
03 Reprobate!
04 Melody for Jaana
05 Blow Yr Brains in the Mourning Rain
06 Honeyjinx
07 D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D.
08 Magdalena (Symphony #8)

Coming March 22 (4 AD) and available for pre-order here.