Dead in the Dirt-Fear(Review)

I have known about Atlanta, Georgia’s Dead in the Dirt since June, after seeing them opening on tour with a number of hardcore bands (they stood out like a sore thumb), and was immediately turned on to their dissonant, incredibly frantic sound. Fear is their first release on Southern Lord records and it hones in on what makes them unique. They play Blackened Grind, with d-beat hardcore, and crust punk influences, and a Vegan Straight Edge/Atheist agenda. Their sound is aggressive and hateful with dual vocalists switching back and forth between strained snarls, and deeper roars. Crusty guitars change constantly from evil blackened riffs, to bursts of grinding aggression, and an occasional doom laden breakdown. Their drummer pounds out blasts and d-beats with incredible power and speed, apparent in both a live and recorded setting. The release contains a lot of ideas, and plenty of anger packed into its ten tracks and twelve minutes, but one thing about it got me really stoked. They do a cover of the vegan straight edge anthem “Skin Graft” by 90’s hardcore band Left For Dead(members went on to form Cursed), who happen to be one of my favorite bands. Fear could very well be one of the best releases of the year, and fits right in with the new, faster wave of Southern Lord bands. I plan on buying this release, and if you would like to witness organized chaos at its best you should check it out.

9/10
FFO- Elitist , Earth Control(Owen Hart) , Early Graves

~Alex Beegle