Biography
Brooklyn-based Dysrhythmia weaves progressive rock, technical death metal, hardcore thrash, indie rock, avant jazz, and ambient mesmerism into the dense, mathematically complex, high-velocity instrumental assaults that define the group. Guitarist Kevin Hufnagel, known for his work with Gorguts and Sabbath Assembly, and drummer Jeff Eber have maintained their partnership since 1998, while bassist, producer, and engineer Colin Marston of Behold...The Arctopus and Krallice joined in 2004. From their inception the trio deliberately diverged from the prevailing death and technical metal acts that surfaced around the turn of the century. Their second release, the 2001 album No Interference, already incorporated mathy, funky passages that thrilled hometown audiences in Philadelphia and left reviewers uncertain how to categorize the music. Barriers and Passages, issued in 2004 and marking Marston’s debut, converted previously skeptical listeners through the band’s commanding live performances; critics simultaneously placed the record within the broader resurgence of instrumental metal. Psychic Maps arrived in 2009, its cascading noise, atonality, hyperspeed drumming, and densely knotted riffs cementing Dysrhythmia’s status as a metal institution and turning the group into an international touring draw. By the release of their eighth album, The Veil of Control, in 2016, they ranked among the most influential metal acts worldwide.
Dysrhythmia originated in March 1998 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the creative vision of guitarist Kevin Hufnagel and bassist Clayton Ingerson, the latter a former music major at the University of the Arts. High-school friends who had previously collaborated in Grey Division Blue during the mid-1990s, the pair reunited after a two-year separation to pursue an entirely instrumental project described as “heavier, more progressive and diverse” than their earlier efforts. Drummer Jeff Eber completed the lineup six months later. The debut album, Contradiction, was recorded over four days in a friend’s basement studio and surfaced in 2000. The following year the band issued No Interference and shared the 10-inch single “Annihilation” with the free jazz/metal outfit Xthoughtstreamsx. Pretest appeared in May 2003. Ingerson departed the next year and was succeeded by Hufnagel’s Byla collaborator Colin Marston, whose résumé also includes Behold...The Arctopus, Gorguts, Encenathrakh, and Krallice. Barriers and Passages, recorded with the new bassist, emerged in May 2006 and was followed by relentless touring through the remainder of the year and into 2007. Late that year the group released the split Fractures with Rothko on Acerbic Noise Development. Marston devoted most of 2008 to recording and touring with Behold...The Arctopus and additional projects, while Hufnagel issued his first solo album, Songs for the Disappeared; both musicians also joined the Canadian tech-death band Gorguts.
Dysrhythmia resurfaced late the next year with Psychic Maps, produced and engineered by Marston. A U.S. tour and the band’s first European dates followed in the ensuing months. While Marston and Hufnagel continued their outside commitments, Dysrhythmia signed with Profound Lore and, in spring 2012, began tracking Test of Submission alongside Luc Lemay; the album appeared in August and triggered further extensive touring on both sides of the Atlantic. Additional recordings and tours with other ensembles occupied the next three years. When the band reconvened to record again, Lemay returned to the production chair. The Veil of Control was tracked in early spring 2016 and released that September.
After headlining shows and festival appearances for nearly two years, Dysrhythmia paused to allow members to focus on external projects. Upon regrouping they elected to pursue a distinctly twenty-first-century form of “futurist progressive metal.” The process proved challenging; in one interview Hufnagel confessed that during writing and pre-production he questioned whether he still had anything left to contribute. Marston introduced the first track in the studio, which reignited Hufnagel’s creative momentum. For the first time Marston contributed second guitar on three pieces—“Nuclear Twilight,” “Power Symmetry,” and “Twin Stalkers”—while Hufnagel handled bass, opening new possibilities for dynamics and texture. The resulting album, Terminal Threshold, was issued by Translation Lost in early October 2019.
Dysrhythmia originated in March 1998 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the creative vision of guitarist Kevin Hufnagel and bassist Clayton Ingerson, the latter a former music major at the University of the Arts. High-school friends who had previously collaborated in Grey Division Blue during the mid-1990s, the pair reunited after a two-year separation to pursue an entirely instrumental project described as “heavier, more progressive and diverse” than their earlier efforts. Drummer Jeff Eber completed the lineup six months later. The debut album, Contradiction, was recorded over four days in a friend’s basement studio and surfaced in 2000. The following year the band issued No Interference and shared the 10-inch single “Annihilation” with the free jazz/metal outfit Xthoughtstreamsx. Pretest appeared in May 2003. Ingerson departed the next year and was succeeded by Hufnagel’s Byla collaborator Colin Marston, whose résumé also includes Behold...The Arctopus, Gorguts, Encenathrakh, and Krallice. Barriers and Passages, recorded with the new bassist, emerged in May 2006 and was followed by relentless touring through the remainder of the year and into 2007. Late that year the group released the split Fractures with Rothko on Acerbic Noise Development. Marston devoted most of 2008 to recording and touring with Behold...The Arctopus and additional projects, while Hufnagel issued his first solo album, Songs for the Disappeared; both musicians also joined the Canadian tech-death band Gorguts.
Dysrhythmia resurfaced late the next year with Psychic Maps, produced and engineered by Marston. A U.S. tour and the band’s first European dates followed in the ensuing months. While Marston and Hufnagel continued their outside commitments, Dysrhythmia signed with Profound Lore and, in spring 2012, began tracking Test of Submission alongside Luc Lemay; the album appeared in August and triggered further extensive touring on both sides of the Atlantic. Additional recordings and tours with other ensembles occupied the next three years. When the band reconvened to record again, Lemay returned to the production chair. The Veil of Control was tracked in early spring 2016 and released that September.
After headlining shows and festival appearances for nearly two years, Dysrhythmia paused to allow members to focus on external projects. Upon regrouping they elected to pursue a distinctly twenty-first-century form of “futurist progressive metal.” The process proved challenging; in one interview Hufnagel confessed that during writing and pre-production he questioned whether he still had anything left to contribute. Marston introduced the first track in the studio, which reignited Hufnagel’s creative momentum. For the first time Marston contributed second guitar on three pieces—“Nuclear Twilight,” “Power Symmetry,” and “Twin Stalkers”—while Hufnagel handled bass, opening new possibilities for dynamics and texture. The resulting album, Terminal Threshold, was issued by Translation Lost in early October 2019.
Albums
