Though Canada has never been widely renowned for its extreme metal heroics, Quebec's Ion Dissonance may instill change to the musical climate. These maniacal musicians have long laid dormant in the blustery northern region, inspiring many in the underground to boast that they were clearly the future of extreme music. That lofty claim aside, these men have finally emerged with a mathematical terror aptly titled "Breathing Is Irrelevant", an album that threatens to annihilate the metallic labyrinths created by the likes of Burnt By The Sun and The Red Chord with extreme prejudice.

To dub this as mere mathcore would be to snub the extreme immensity that Ion Dissonance are so well-trained in executing. From the opening moments of "Substantial Guilt VS. The Irony Of Enjoying" these men set out on a quest to surgically mutilate one's eardrums. By and large they succeed, with atonal guitars and headache-inducing time signatures driving this musical aberration into one's memory with the sheer force of a rivet gun to the forehead. "Binary, Part II" almost appears subdued, what with Jean François Richard's jazzy percussive dexterity, and Gabriel Mc Caughry almost seeming at ease with his nonchalant verbal dialogue, yet all is torn asunder seconds later as the band lay siege to their own creation. Admittedly the group do have a bit of trouble with sudden transitions, often relying on the usage of inane spoken word interludes as they frantically attempt to flip the songs in several directions, but in spite of these shaky moments lyrically, Ion Dissonance still astound.

Possessing the technical wizardry of The Dillinger Escape Plan and the devastating metallic grind impact of As The Sun Sets, the members of Ion Dissonance have delivered one of the heaviest albums of 2003. This is a record that ignores the listener's capacity for intensity, pummeling eardrums with violent time signatures and uncompromising vocal screams. The album's one weakness may be in its incessant need to document the essence of aural armageddon, as it could be perceived as just a blurry explosion of noise to less adventurous listeners. Indeed it does possess such carnal desires and the destruction left in the group's thunderous wake borders on the excessive, but those who dare traverse this metal battlefield should wear their wounds with pride. Few bands have the ability and drive necessary to labor on such a taxing style yet Ion Dissonance prevail, making "Breathing Is Irrelevant" a must for extreme music aficionados, and a brilliant debut effort from one of the scene's most exhausting machines of brutality.