Dub Trio

A trio grows in Brooklyn — an aggressive, spacey and challenging trio. As its name suggests, Dub Trio finds its inspiration in the decades-old aesthetics of bass-heavy, reverb-soaked, sinsemilla-sucking Jamaican reggae, but from that cliff, the group leaps off into completely unexpected and brutal territory. Drummer Joe Tomino, bassist Stu Brooks and guitarist D. P. Holmes are all seasoned session players with impressive resumés. While they’ve recorded with folks like 50 Cent and Matisyahu, the three veterans also played critical roles in Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom project and ended up releasing their latest record, Another Sound Is Dying, on Patton’s Ipecac label — and it’s not hard to see why. Equally comfortable with bone-crushing metal, angst-filled hardcore and the massive riddims of dub, the Trio switches deftly and gracefully from headbanging to head bobbing, often within a single composition. This split personality could result in either sonic chaos or gimmicky hollowness, but these skilled, soulful players rein in the beast by keeping their eyes fixed firmly on melodies, structure and substance.