Because they rarely play live, avoid photographs and other forms of image mongering, and layer their releases with cryptic references, the grindcore band Discordance Axis remains a bit of an enigma. What is known is that they formed in New Jersey in 1991 and feature a lineup of vocalist Jon Chang, guitarist Rob Marton, and drummer Dave Witte, the latter having played with a number of other bands including Atomsmasher, Human Remains, Black Army Jacket, and Burnt by the Sun. Discordance Axis released their first full-length LP, Ulterior, in 1995 on the Devour label, followed by Jouhou in 1997. Throughout their career, the band has also put out a number of hard-to-find 7"s, including split releases with Melt-Banana, Def Master, Plutocracy, and Capitalist Casualties. The 1998 CD Original Sound Version 1992-1995 compiles all of the official releases from their early years along with several unreleased tracks, while 1998's Jouhou 2.0 CD gathers their post-1995 non-LP tracks with the contents of the original Jouhou release. Their third CD/LP, the inventively packaged The Inalienable Dreamless, came out on Hydrahead Records and received a strongly favorable response among grindcore/noise followers. Infamous Japanese noise artist Merzbow put together a 17-minute remix of the album, which the band made available as a free MP3 download on their website, www.studio-grey.com/da/. ~ William York