Album Review: Death Before Dishonor - 'Better Ways to Die'

12 August 2009 | 11:38 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

What could have been a podium finisher for 2009 is soured by one or two polished turds.

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Let me start by saying that the first 7 seconds of this record had me very excited, and had the band not opted to open their record with a funky little thrash solo, then maybe I wouldn’t have expected anything other than just a hardcore record, and I may well be singing praises right now.  And so we come to my main gripe with the latest offering from these Boston boys – there is proof here that they could have produced an absolute pearler of a record and I can’t help but feel that they went the safe route on a few tracks. 


That’s not to say that DBD have pumped out a typical Boston hardcore album, there are influences here that stretch from Slayer to the Exploited and back again.  Of course your youth crew style gang vocals are still there, and the drums rarely venture outside the NOFX on steroids sound, but they are counterbalanced throughout with diverse guitar leads and rhythms from the melodic metal intro of ‘Remember’ to the almost Hammet-like soloing on the track ‘Black Cloud’.  


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‘Better Ways to Die’ is far from sloppy.  The guitars are tight, the drums are fast and aggressive and the vocals are full of raspy goodness.  It’s a shame to see that the bass was left so far back in the mix this time around given the booming bass lines that dominated their previous full length “Count Me In” but where it does come to the front it’s bouncing and complex.   


The inclusion of dual vocals owing to a guest appearance from Mark Civitarese from the Unseen on the track ‘Our Glory Days’ caught me by surprise as his hoarse treble provides a great contrast to Bryan’s deep bark.  It would be interesting to see the band follow Rancid’s footsteps and adopt a rotating-vocalist approach in the future as this is undoubtedly the stand-out track for me.  


The lyrical content of ‘Better Ways to Die’ strikes a stark contrast to the majority of material being put out by the likes of DBD’s former label mates Have Heart and Paint it Black.  Where we’re largely seeing a shift toward positivity in the hardcore scene (wikipedia would suggest the term ‘posicore’ is appropriate here – I beg to differ), DBD are sticking true to the false bravado has typified certain branches of hardcore in the past.  Tracks like “Coffin Nail” that glorify bashing junkies and basically hating life with lines like “my hate can’t wait to seal your fate” don’t really come off as genuine, sounding more like flamboyant machismo strewn together to cater to a target audience.  


The addition of a token anti-establishment track in ‘Boys in Blue’ comes off with the same unconvincing feeling, like band just threw the track in to avoid losing any of their traditional fanbase. 

There’s a lot here to like for both die-hard old schoolers and those up for a bit more progressive fare.  Unfortunately it just feels like DBD are holding back for the sake of tradition on a few tracks.  If that doesn’t concern you, then this will probably be one of the better hardcore releases of 2009.   

Peace And Quiet                                                    

Remember                                                           

Coffin Nail                                                        

Fuck This Year                                                     

Boys In Blue                                                       

Better Ways To Die                                                 

So Far From Home                                                   

Black Cloud                                                       

No More Lies                                                   

Bloodlust                                                          

Our Glory Days