Death By Stereo
Into The Valley Of Death
Epitaph
You can’t really go wrong with songs called “I Wouldn’t Piss in Your Ear If Your Brain Was on Fire” and “You’re a Bullshit Salesman with a Mouthful of Samples,” but Death By Stereo come pretty close to losing it with the their latest release. It’s a case of too much at one time, with the Californian five-piece delivering chunks of hardcore in ludicrous power metal fashion, dipping their punk rock in bowls of sorcery-approved metal. It’s very unsubtle stuff, with every instrument overplaying and with vocalist Efrem Schultz’ voice going all over the place like some light cartoon parody of Mike Patton. The aforementioned “Salesman?” is a fine turbo-metallic hardcore anthem, and there are some other fun and energetic moments throughout. In the end, however, Death By Stereo lose impact by being everywhere at once, sacrificing dynamics for an unadulterated metal churn. They’d probably be a better band if they were willing to take themselves just a bit more seriously. Don’t hold your breath.
Epitaph Records: http://www.epitaph.com/
