Weekly Album Review - Dead in the Dirt "The Blind Hole"

Release Date: August 6th, 2013

Southern Lord Recordings

Dead in the Dirt are a hardcore/ crust/ grind band from Atlanta, Georgia, and are signed to Southern Lord Recordings. With a blasting style similar to the likes of powerviolence innovators Dropdead, and Magrudergrind, they also touch on traditional standards of grind bands such as Deathspell Omega, Haymaker, and Left for Dead. While grind is traditionally viewed as a “one trick” genre, Dead in the Dirt are on the forefront of bands attempting to break this mold, and are doing so successfully. They formed in December of 2008, and have been making a name for themselves ever since. Touring extensively with big name grind acts like Mammoth Grinder, they have traveled worldwide. While their discography is only two EPs and a full length, they make up in quality what they lack in quantity. On August 6th, 2013, D.I.T.D. released their first full length album, The Blind Hole. The album is 22 songs of pure heaviness, and punishment. With riffs so heavy and jammy, you can’t help but nod your head, this album is a fun listen from start to finish. While most of the album includes fast tempos and grinding vocals, tracks like “The Pit of Me”, slow it down a bit and use aspects of early 90’s hardcore bands like The Cro-Mags, to create a slow and groovy, yet equally as heavy sound. The first track on The Blind Hole is titled “Suffer” and instantly sets the tone for the album. They wasted zero time getting down to what the album was going to be like, with a heavy jumpy groove riff opening the song, and absolutely unsettling vocals following this up. The song ends promptly at just 52 seconds, but leaves the listener wanting more. This is where D.I.T.D. is different than bands of the past. The songs remain short, but once they are finished, you can’t wait for the next one to start, and that’s what makes this album so successful. Another favorite of mine on the album is “Swelling”, the third track in. It’s only 21 seconds long, but it starts of extremely fast, and just drops off. The guitars go from a high pitched fast riff, and drop down to a slow sludgy riff, with low growling vocals that just make me want to get up and move. “Swelling” fades into the next song, “Strength Through Restraint”, which has a slow tempo, dominated by drum and bass. his album grinds on for only 23 minutes, but after one listen, I wanted to start the album over immediately. It has major replay value, and really breaks the traditional dry mold of all the bands in this genre sounding exactly same. I highly recommend it to anyone who has listened to grind in the past and just couldn’t get into it for the reason of it being boring or sounding the same as everything else. This album will really change your mind.