''The Inalienable Dreamless'' is the third and final studio album by

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

band

Discordance Axis Discordance Axis was an American grindcore band formed in 1991 in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Their songs employed themes of inner struggles, science fiction, comic books, anime, and literature. History Discordance Axis was originally formed ...

, released on May 23, 2000, through

Hydra Head Records Hydra Head Records was an independent record label specializing in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner (the frontman of Isis) in 1993. It had another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialized in experimental ...

. It has since become one of the most acclaimed grindcore albums of all time. The album, along with its production history, was made the subject of the 2012 book ''Compiling Autumn: The Making of Discordance Axis' "The Inalienable Dreamless"'', a limited edition paperback that was released to aid the

Japanese Red Cross Society The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan has traditionally supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

. The album was repressed on black and blue vinyl for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

in 2011. Many of the tracks refer to elements from the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

franchise ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

'', including "

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

Present", "Pattern Blue", "The

End End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a 2011 documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * '' ...

", and " The Third Children".

Background and production

After the release of the 1997 album ''

Jouhou ''Jouhou'' is the second studio album by grindcore band Discordance Axis, originally released on vinyl format in February 1997 through Devour Records in a limited edition of 4000. The 1998 compact disc edition of the album included tracks taken ...

'', guitarist Rob Marton left the band right before they could start their Japanese tour, citing schedule conflicts with his job as a main reason. To fill in his place, the band hired guitarist Steve Procopio for the tour. The band would then take a two-year hiatus before reforming in 1999 to work on new material, Marton now back in the band. The trio was then offered by

after label head

Aaron Turner Aaron Turner (born November 5, 1977) is an American musician, singer, graphic artist, and founder of label Hydra Head Records. He is most widely known for his role as guitarist and vocalist for the post-metal bands Sumac (band), SUMAC and Isis ...

listened to ''Jouhou''. ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' was recorded, mixed, and mastered in four days in December 1999 at Trax East. It was completed on December 15, 1999. Originally, Steve Evetts was to engineer the record, however he quit and left the studio before the band could start the sessions, so Jon D'Uva was hired last minute to replace him. During the sessions, D'Uva added a subharmonic bass synthesizer effect to the guitar recordings, giving the recordings a more "full" sound. The album was made available to order online, first on

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and later on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

, on May 23, 2000. Discordance Axis also gave out copies of ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' at their show at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

's in

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on June 3, 2000.

Artwork, packaging, and lyrics

The CD edition of the album was packaged in a

keep case A keep case or poly-box is a type of packaging, most commonly used with DVDs and Blu-ray videos (and sometimes CDs). Besides DVD-Video films, keep cases are very common with most disc-based video games since the PlayStation 2, and they are also ...

, which is normally associated with

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s. The booklet included with the CD release includes lyrics in unique handwritten fonts displayed over pictures of the oceanside taken by photographer Scott Kinkade. The photos were taken at Sea Bright, New Jersey, which was where drummer

Dave Witte Dave Witte (born August 11, 1971) is an American drummer. He is known for his work in numerous extreme metal or hardcore punk bands including Municipal Waste, Melt-Banana, Discordance Axis, Black Army Jacket, Birds of Prey, Burnt by the Sun, a ...

was living during the production of the album. Kinkade was hired to take the photos because he had been friends with the band ever since they met each other at a show in 1996. The LP edition of the album too featured the booklet, and was pressed on black and clear vinyl. The clear edition was a pressing of only 100 copies. All LP editions featured etchings in the run-out grooves that read "Are You My Pal...Danny?" Lyrical themes of the album include loneliness and despair, a departure from the group's earlier politically motivated works. The lyrics also include references to, and were heavily inspired by, the anime series

, in particular the films ''Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth'' and '' End of Evangelion''. Authors Philip K. Dick and

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

are referenced as well.

Reception and legacy

Since its initial release, the album has received critical acclaim from critics, and is considered by many to be one of the best grindcore albums ever made. In 2009,

Decibel magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. It is currently the only monthly metal music magazine published in North America. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Revi ...

included the album in its "Hall of Fame" list. William York of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

awarded the album a near perfect score of 4.5 out of 5 and "Recommended Pick" status, praising the band's musicianship. Greg Patt of Brave Words gave the album a perfect 10/10 score, complimenting the "painfully emotional and poetic" lyrics and

's drumming.

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

writer Clay Jarvis rated the album with an A score.

Track listing

Personnel

;Discordance Axis *Jon Chang - vocals *Rob Marton - guitars *

- drums ;Production *Jon D'Uva - engineering, recording *Scott Kinkade - photography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inalienable Dreamless, The 2000 albums Hydra Head Records albums Discordance Axis albums