Death Before DishonorBoston's Death Before Dishonor have already been together and beating pavement day in, day out for over five years now. They already have a damn good amount of material under their belts as well; Friends, Family, Forever (Bridge 9, EP) , True Till Death (Full Length, Spook City) and splits with Black Friday (Bridge 9) and Nourish The Flame (Spook City).
There are 13 tracks in all and most tend to stay around the early two minute mark. There isn't any deviation from what has made these guys the band they are. They still bring the fast paced boston hardcore stuff with plenty of jarring breakdowns sure to put you on your ass. They do however incorporate a little more melody this time around (though those moments have certainly popped up here and there in their previous efforts). The album ends off with a nice rendition of Cocksparrer's "England Belongs To Me".
The lyrics are pretty standard fair. However I do like how Bryan Harris has a collection of songs that are about persevering over his struggles but then have songs like "Nothing But Agony" and "Take Me Away" which are songs about being toppled over by life. The total album is about turning the negative shit into a positive. Certainly not a new approach, but definitely sincere and well done.
This was recorded by Jim Siegal at Outpost Studios so you know there isn't going to be much glaring problems in this department. The first thing that always stood out to me when listening to these guys is Frankie's awesome bass tone. It has such a good balance of treble and lows. It's always twanging about in the background, filling out the mix. The guitar tone is nice and thick, which bolsters up those breaks. I wouldn't change a thing about the drums. Vocal placement is good.
To me lately, Jacob Bannon's work has been hit or miss for me. Some albums are absolutely breath taking and overs are just average. This falls on the latter. The front cover is just a clenching hand printed over a brownish background that is littered with contrasted images of city buildings. There are also two more pages of the booklet that use the hand, just in different poses. The lyrics are printed over three pages in semi-easy to read olde english font in black with the same contrasted city images silhouetted into the brownish matte stock paper.
Rating: 3.8/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Curl Up And Die and Break Through It All
Synopsis: Very good follow up to their previous albums. If these guys keep at it with their hard-nosed, blue-collar approach of constant touring and word of mouth promotion, there is no excuse for these guys not to garner themselves some accolades. Will they be the next Hatebreed? I doubt it, but that doesn't mean they can't leave a lasting mark on the hardcore scene.