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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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Mixing a healthy dose of d-beat with their NYHC sound, Deathcycle might just have tapped into something special. It’s not an entirely original idea, and it’s by no means revolutionary, but just that small addition of something different goes a long way into keeping a sound fresh and interesting.

Knowing this, Deathcycle were able to expound on their already heavy hardcore attack with some of the energy provided by the d-beat style. With a very sharp focus and unrelenting intensity, the four-piece is able to plow through the album’s half-an-hour duration and offer plenty of twists and turns along the way. NYHC bands aren’t generally known for diversity, but this self-titled effort offers a surprising amount of it.

There’s blisteringly fast tracks like “Security/Slavery,” where vocalist Ron Grimaldi shreds his raspy cords as much as Gary Bennett does to his metal ones, and the rest of the band sounds just as fluid and well-oiled as possible. The thick waves of distortion hit like a brick wall while the vocals cut through it all. The riffs are just a constant barrage of dissonance that results in a rapid fire approach. It works exceedingly well for the band, as time to catch your breath is not even offered in the tracks a minute long. The aptly titled “Angry and Desperate” continues much in the same vein, this time offering drummer Jon Lafata to showcase his chops, and even though he’s got just over a minute to do so, it’s plenty of time to offer a glimpse into what he brings to the table.

Thankfully they’re not a one-trick pony either, because the slower, more churning basis on which “Take Your Life Back” is played says just as much for their talents as songs played twice as fast. One of the album’s longer songs at almost three minutes, the band takes every opportunity to fill it completely with all the noise and fury that populates the shorter songs. Just as relentless as before, this four-piece pulverize their way through every rise and fall of the riffs to get a real stranglehold on anyone listening. The title track finishes the album with a little bit from each style transitioning between the faster and slower parts with plenty of ease, always tied together by the unquestionably pissed off delivery of one Ron Grimaldi.

A little bit of a twist on your classic New York hardcore sound, but one that feels like it’s not even a twist at all.



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    Posted by genu on 2006-12-22 19:06:52

    you dont like deathcyle, then you suck

    Posted by Hushearthling on 2006-12-08 17:21:15
    My Score:

    This record crushes. One of the best live bands I've ever seen as well. I heart Ron.

    Posted by frogballs on 2006-12-06 00:00:52

    you probably didnt comment on any 9/11 conspiracy theories because there are none mentioned on our album . there are listings of sites in our booklet that i happen to agree with for the most part but nothing directly in any of the lyrics . there will be some on our next lp though as we have already written songs about it .no matter what happened and who was responsable for it 9/11 has been exploited by our govt . and as for the genius that says our lyrics are a afterthought based only on the fact that we have a song called " religion is mind control ". you are obviously a fucking idiot. stay free, ron

    Posted by Anchors on 2006-12-04 10:25:11

    "awesome album, terrible review, just for the fact that you failed to mention anything about the lyrics, which deal alot with controversial politics and 9/11 conspiracy theories. maybe you were in a rush to meet a deadline?

    No, I don't even give any of those crackpot 9/11 conspiracy theories so much as the benefit of a mention.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 3, 2006 at 7:06 PM (EST)

    "whats the difference in D-beat and crust?"

    D-beat is a type of drumbeat. Crust is a genre of music. The two often go hand in hand, but are not interchangeable.

    Posted by dreux on 2006-12-03 11:51:01
    My Score:

    Not sure what the value of this stuff is, even contextually, but it's extremely well-done.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 2, 2006 at 10:19 PM (EST)

    whats the difference in D-beat and crust?

    Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2006-12-02 21:14:25

    Not bad, from what i've heard.

    Posted by fuckfatmike on 2006-12-02 19:26:39
    My Score:

    this album rips. caught them at a tiny venue with kill your idols and a bunch of local bands. great show.

    Posted by feeeding5000 on 2006-12-01 21:18:39

    Crappy name, but this sounds really good. NYHC needs an update, considering that most of it completely sucks. Are the lyrics in the d-beat format (you know, where there's like 3 phrases repeated over and over)?

    Posted by Adam_K on 2006-12-01 17:50:29

    One of my favorite LPs of 2006.

    Posted by strangenotes on 2006-12-01 13:05:26

    I was listening to this earlier on myspace and the lyrics seemed like a complete afterthought.

    "RELIGION IS MIND CONTROL" Holy shit, that's controversial stuff, dudes!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 1, 2006 at 12:01 PM (EST)

    awesome album, terrible review, just for the fact that you failed to mention anything about the lyrics, which deal alot with controversial politics and 9/11 conspiracy theories. maybe you were in a rush to meet a deadline?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 1, 2006 at 11:38 AM (EST)

    Check out a band called Genocide Superstars. The only way I can describe it is "Party D-Beat". It was a side-project of that dude from Nasum who got killed by the Tsunami.

    -Ken

    Posted by sirens on 2006-12-01 10:01:02

    come on dude. youre reviews blows now, what happened??

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 1, 2006 at 9:30 AM (EST)

    yeah! fantastic band. glad to see this reviewed here
    -Janelle

    Posted by remainsunseen on 2006-12-01 00:47:05

    just saw them like 2 weeks ago with 2man, they are really good live.

    on a side note i see the lead singer all over the place riding his bike.

    Posted by JustinUCR on 2006-12-01 00:36:46

    this record destroys.
    LP version is on Lifeline Records.

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