At a recent DREAM_MEGA performance, Joel Kyack stood alone on stage, directing a lava flow of sound at the audience. Overwhelmed by the haunted-house frequencies, the invasive rhythms, the untethered, untuned vocals, one attendee bent against another to whisper, “I think this guy’s channeling demons.” Whether spoken in terror or esteem, this accusation is useful in the face of DREAM_MEGA’s second LP, ‘Control / You Are Not the Center.’ The record is laced with menace. You hear it in the mutant war marches, in the dancehall reflux, in the tolling bass. You hear it in the crystalline melodies and the yearning ascensions. You even hear it in the Guided by Voices cover.

Joel’s relationship with unsettling sound—demon channeling—is now decades long. His long-standing service in Landed, the band he co-founded in 1997, runs parallel to Joel's contributions to Six Finger Satellite, Men’s Recovery Project, Megafuckers, Dos Mega, and Street Buddy. This relentless dedication points a straight line to the feverish decay of his present day work, but Dream Mega stands distinct. Borne out of Joel’s near-death experience in 2020—a debilitated week spent isolated in Thailand, coughing blood and drenching bedsheets—DREAM_MEGA commandeers a unique space at the overlap of confrontation and abandon.

Drawing on his own experiences at both hardcore shows and at street performances, Joel pushes DREAM_MEGA into an antipodal state where hyper-awareness and liberatory transcendence coexist.

The songs on ‘Control / You Are Not the Center’ stare unblinking at our dumb, dangerous world the same way a Dropdead song might, but they simultaneously lift the burden of this disaster, pushing toward airy respite. Some of this is Joel’s compositional approach, setting ancient woodwinds against digital synthesizers, crossing unnatural circuitry with human breath. But the heart of it is Joel’s dire, middle-of-the-night need to address his fear and sadness and glimmers of hope and twist it into something that might keep his heart beating, despite. It is an act of clarity and self-preservation so skillfully wrought that every listener is able to feel the demons at work on their own heart.

‘Control / You are Not The Center’ features sonic contributions from Ryan Weinstein (Coffin Prick), Cordey Lopez, and Lisa Anne Auerbach. It is recommended for fans of Hassell & Eno’s ‘Fourth World, Vol.1: Possible Musics’, Houston’s chopped and screwed scene, and Captain Beefheart.

1. CASUAL BUNKER
2. ALRIGHT JAVIER
3. AFTER YOU'VE GONE
4. ORDINARY TIMES
5. DEN DEN
6. FIELD RECORDING
7. BONE TRADE
8. THE RIVER IS A SCAR MADE OF GLASS
9. MAGGOTS
10. FINANCIAL PLACEHOLDER
11. BETTER THAN
12. WEED KING