Edmonton, AB's Mark Davis rips apart his country-folk pigeonhole with his third solo release, Eliminate The Toxins. Produced by adventuresome Calgary musician Lorrie Matheson, the album is a journey through to the other side of the folk/roots genre and out into experimental territory. One of the driving forces behind Edmonton dark country quartet Old Reliable, Davis has always been an enigmatic figure. His inscrutability deepens with these new songs. His rootsy sensibility is obscured with electronic effects and drum loops. His lyrics and vocals are as emotionally loaded as ever, but often fade into a fog of feedback and distortion. All the sonic dissonance, however, doesn't belie the album's enormous listenability. The grandiose rock beats of the title track and the sunny jangle of "In The Waters" light up the speakers. And after all the distortion and muted fury, the album finally relaxes into the blissful and hypnotic "Throw It Away" and mellow, though heartbreaking, closer "Wounded Wing." Mark Davis is a songwriter with staggering depth of emotion. He's not always easy to fathom, but he never fails to lay it all out there for those discerning souls who care to try. (Exclaim)