Hydra Head's deluxe reissues of Discordance Axis' Original Sound Version and Jouhou discs are unquestionably essential for anyone even remotely into modern grindcore. Seriously, if you're into grind and you don't have these (and everything else that Discordance Axis ever released) in your music collection, you've got a major malfunction occuring. Packaged in plastic DVD style cases in the same manner as DA's Inalienable Dreamless album, and accompanied by freaking enormous booklets loaded with lyrics, liner notes, photos, artwork, and TONS more, these reissues are crucial.

Original Sound Version 1992-1995 is an exhaustive, exhausting collection of the entire output of Discordance Axis' early years. It's all here: the debut album Ulterior, the DA tracks from the split releases with Capitalist Casualties, Cosmic Curse, and Hellchild, along with demos, live recordings, and unreleased studio tracks. We're talking about 69 tracks of ultra-abrasive grind, innovative structures and spastic stop/start rhythms, vicious angular cheesegrater riffs, and some of the greatest grind drumming of all time from drum titan Dave Witte (Melt Banana, Human Remains, Burnt By the Sun, Municipal Waste, East West Blast Test, Phantomsmasher, Black Army Jacket). Jon Chang's lyrics are the most poetic verses you will ever find in grind, drawing from a combination of mathematical language, Japanese Otaku fandom, and abstract political criticism, but there's zero chance of deciphering any of that sans the program guide because the man's vocals are fucking RABIES, switching from the most insane nut-flattening shrieks imaginable to murderous gutteral roars. Of course, since these are the early years and there is a wide variety of stuff collected here, the sound quality tends to range a bit, especially when you get into the ancient rehearsal tracks. That shit is just ridiculous, total noisecore, like someone taking a shitty boombox and recording a drunken Mick Harris blasting over a 10th-generation Incapacitants tape. Rules. Dig around in here and you'll turn up Discordance Axis' goofy rendition of Black Flag's "Gimme Gimme Gimme," too. One of the things that always set DA apart from almost all of their peers in grindcore was the impeccable visual design aesthetic that Jon Chang brought to the band, and the layout and booklet here are as classy and detailed as you could hope. The thick 28 page booklet is loaded with complete documentation of this early period in the band's career, and the extensive liner notes and song-by-song commentary written by Chang are a must-read for DA fanatics. CRUCIAL.