Up until I heard this 10 song, 7″ release from Atlanta’s Dead in the Dirt, God Is War from All Pigs Must Die was my favorite crust release of 2011, and before that, Nails and their Unsilent Death release was my favorite crust release of the last decade or so. But once the needle hits the vinyl on Fear, a limited 1500 issue release, all bets are off and this awesome, new modern wave of death metal/crust/hardcore apparently has another new king.

From the sick opening blast of “The Screaming Wind”, to the searing closing title track, Dead in the Dirt just downright fucking nasty and one of the more violent and brutal debut releases I’ve heard. The 12 minutes or so that comprise the release is 10 tracks ranging from 18 seconds to a rangy 1:48, but there’s so much fire and brimstone unreleased in the short span of time, you’ll actually be thankful its over so quickly.

With a huge, mid-range, buzzing guitar tone that akin to Wolverine Blues era Entombed injected with concentrated venom and virulent feedback, Dead in the Dirt make the likes of Trap Them and Black Breath look like Sonata Arctica. It’s filthy, dirty but most importantly, absolutely bludgeoning. Adding to the mayhem are the dual vocals of Blake Connelly and Bo Orr which are delivered in primarily a deeper, death metal gruff roar and feral scream.

However, Fear isn’t just a  landslide of noise (though close, and it will leave you just a battered), Dead in the Dirt have some songwriting chops mixed into the chaos; whether is a huge groove, (i.e. “Bastards of the Bleak”), crippling d beat salvo (“Disease”, “Fear”) or savage grindcore blast (“Biting at the Binds”), or all three (i.e. “Burden of Life”, “Can They Suffer?”, “Sever the Tie”), Dead In the Dirt are sneaky writers. Add the fact this material is as volatile and vitriolic as any metal in any genre, this violent little slab of vinyl and will leave your speakers blackened and charred. Mine are still smoking.

If you are one of those stubborn folks that wont get  a record player (as I was up until recently), here is your simple reason to get one.

NOW.

 

 

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments