Old Time Relijun

Arrington de Dionyso’s voice — Exorcist creepy, low and commandingly visceral — is the key to Old Time Relijun, his decade-old trio. Like his undeniable influence, Captain Beefheart, de Dionyso wrings a raw hysteria from the most direct lyrical, mythical and fantastical narratives as the band flails tunelessly behind him in primal, caveman repetition; Old Time Relijun may be one of the few groups in existence whose live show is actually harmed by a sound check. New drummer Jamie Peterson (ex-Curtains) signed on in time for the recording of 2012. Peterson’s style is excessively crisp, clean and funky — incongruent with de Dionyso’s goose-step guitar jam and throat-shredding extremes. De Dionyso doesn’t help matters, either, by de-intensifying his singing and slathering discordant sax all over 2012, pushing things into slicker James Chance & the Contortions territory — a bummer, as the world’s already packed to the brim with similar-sounding acts.