|
Here in Wisconsin, there's a lot of chatter about how East Coasters just aren't as gosh darn affable and friendly as us Midwesterners. And while I haven't conducted enough research to cement that as something more than a stereotype, Death Before Dishonor, with their Boston-grown, hard-hitting, in-your-face attitude, offers some proof that people from the East Coast really are a bit meaner.
Fortunately, that also makes for great metallic hardcore.
Death Before Dishonor's full-length debut, Count Me In, isn't an "outside-the-box" slab of chunky metallic hardcore, but it's a big, memorable improvement over 2005's Friends. Family. Forever and boiling with energy. Something like a mix of Hatebreed's stripped-down Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire and anything Blood for Blood has written, the record is not only familiar, but rooted in solid, efficient songwriting. The band doesn't spend a whole lot of time on melody or mosh -- although both make tasteful, effective appearances in most songs -- and instead focuses a lot of energy on gruff metallic hardcore with tinges of full-throttle thrash and lots of crushing grooves. Death Before Dishonor obviously isn't out to innovate; they're out to write solid songs that hit hard and, in that sense, Count Me In is an outright success.
Beautifully recorded to give the bass parts a well deserved presence, the record really does pack a punch. Hell, when I play it on my weak car stereo, the rumbling low end goes right through my seats and into my chest. Aside from a mediocre street punk-style cover of Cocksparrer's "England Belongs to Me," where the band replaces "England" with "Boston," there's really nothing to dislike about Count Me In. If this is what a little East Coast bitterness produces, I hope the attitude never fades.
|
