With ‘Death For Life’, the Death By Stereo sound seems to have evolved. Whether it has evolved into something useful like Homo sapiens or something less interesting like an armadillo it’s hard to tell. Previous Death By Stereo albums have seen the band hover comfortably in the middle of an interesting blend of metal, hardcore and punk. This album sees them striving determinedly towards a full on metal sound.
The cheesy chanted opening aside; first track ‘Binge/Purge’ is a strong, high-paced meaty metal fest. I’m not sure about the angry shouting at the beginning of ‘I Give My Life’ but once Efrem starts singing the song gets my moshing gland into gear.
There are a few truly infectious tracks on this album and ‘Forget Regret’ and ‘Entombed We Collide’ are two of them. The rhythm section pulsates underneath the throbbing duel guitars and results in a metallic explosion of pleasure.
‘Nosotros Controlamos Todo’ has a fantastic funky bass breakdown and is sure to shift you out of your lazy boy and get you writhing around on the carpet with joy. The sickly sweet ballad, ‘Forever And A Day’ is an interesting album choice saved only by a sexy guitar solo.
‘Death For Life’ is not quite edgy enough for me and is likely to divide fans of Death By Stereo’s previous work. Although this album is not going to please all the DBS fans if you’ve never heard of them before you will love it. If not you’ll just have to suck it and see, like a giant gobstopper, and decide whether it has what it takes to stand out from the rest.
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