Review Summary: No gods, no masters, no conformity, no regrets... only chaos.
There are some places light won't reach.
Picture yourself in a darkened room. You're at a show with local hardcore bands and you've had a good time so far. But now most of the lights have been turned down while the next band sets up. That band just happens to be called Dead in the Dirt. You notice people gathering around the band and you follow suit, finding a spot directly beside the guitarist. While most bands have used simple half stacks, this one uses full stacks. A massive drum set is also apparent. Not knowing what to expect, it starts.
Suddenly a brilliant sludgy riff comes from the bearded guitarist. It is heavy, it is dark, it is loud, and it has a groove that instantaneously drags you in. The other two members (bass and drums) join and continue the instrumental song for a couple of minutes and you find yourself already lost in the music. It ends and there's a pause. There's a sudden shift. The drums kick in, playing at unbelievable speeds and mainly a mixture of d-beat and blastbeats. Your ears are being assaulted by the sheer brutality and anger that comes from the men. Both the guitar and the bass are being fueled by Boss HM-2s, the very pedal that has been used for nearly two decades to achieve the notorious "Entombed tone." The vocals are shouted with pure aggression and are pissed off at seemingly everything.
This may certainly appear to be a review of a show more than an EP but the fact is that
Vold is the only release thus far from the Atlanta band. The set list and the track list are virtually the same with minor exceptions (with an announced and unnamed cover that was obviously "You Suffer" from Napalm Death at the show). As with anything crust, grindcore, and black metal inspired, the music collapses under its own chaos to create an immense atmosphere of both devastation and desperation. The main difference between listening to the EP and seeing the band was that you could witness the energy transferred to and released by the crowd. When the last song was announced and played, the moshing that was constant suddenly exploded, resulting in both microphone stands being slammed to the ground and the bassist (Bo Orr) being thrown against his amplifier cabinets.
This is a mere seven and a half minute EP, consisting of five songs, but it has great replayability and only leaves you desiring more of the anger. The band rages against religion, conformity, ignorance, regret, isolation, and even the burden of working a minimum wage job that you hate and the personal impact that it has. Easily the best lyrics are found in "Few and Far Between."
A human void, you drown in your self pity. Becoming the *** you consume, you are everything I ***ing hate. People suffer, endless torture. Not alone but ***ing close. Everyday hangs another noose. Separate myself from poison.
On a side note, the main man of the band happens to be Blake Connally, who was the guitarist in
Me and Him Call It Us until the band broke up. The drummer is also Hank Pratt of
Foundation, another acclaimed hardcore band from Atlanta. I have no idea what Bo Orr has done in the past but his artwork on the album is awesome.
