Dub Trio – The Shape of Dub to Come

The masters of dub-rock are back.

Aptly named dub-rock group Dub Trio’s fifth album The Shape of Dub to Come is their first album in eight years, and it seems that the long wait did the trio and the album well. The Shape of Dub to Come (whose title is a homage to Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come) is just as good and as fresh as any of their old albums. It’s full of great sounds, impressive guitar riffs, some fun collaborations and the exact kind of emotion that you would expect from a group labeled as “dub rock.” Dub Trio knows what they’re doing and how to do it well, and it’s very apparent in this album.

The album begins with “World of Inconvenience” which features King Buzzo of The Melvins. It’s a much more typical sounding heavy rock song, especially with Buzz’s powerful vocals mixing with the instrumental talent of Stu Brooks, DP Holmes and Joe Tomino. The song has a slightly ominous sound to it, making for a great start to the genre-crossing album. The second song, the instrumental “Spyder” sounds like the soundtrack to an action movie, which is definitely a good thing. The combination of heavy guitar and slight distortion creates a fantastic sound that shows just why the group stands out from the rest.

Some other notable songs on the album are “Fought the Line,” “Life Signs” and “Computery.” “Fought the Line” features Troy Sanders of Mastodon, and it’s arguably the best song on the album. The lyrics contain great imagery, “with skin that’s made of porcelain/ you’ve fallen in the right hands/ caught yourself right before you landed/ and I think nothing is stronger than.” The song contains some great moments of synthesized drums that create almost a sense of confusion within the listeners. “Life Signs” is one of the more dub-heavy songs on the album, and through all of the different sounds and instruments there comes a strange sense of peace with this song. It’s like the white noise one would listen to as they sleep, but on steroids.

Finally, “Computery” is a song that can best be described as fun. It’s much less dark sounding than the rest of the songs on the album, and it contains computerized sounds, thus explaining the title. It also features some fantastic guitar picking that brings the song away from anything cliché, and into the dub rock genre, the band is known for. The album ends with “Sati,” which is a beautiful atmospheric sounding song.

Dub Trio shows that they know how to create all styles of music; from heavy rock, to fun electronic, to creepy atmospheric music, they truly are a talented group. The Shape of Dub to Come is available for purchase now.