ALBUM REVIEW: Death Is Death – EAT DIRT.

A debut album is always going to have a lot riding for it. It’s the first full impression a band or artist can make on the world of music, so they would need to put their heart and soul into it so that the album can be noticed and get the band’s sound out there. For a band like EAT DIRT., having recently performed with NOT ON TOUR and had a slot at Manchester Punk Festival, this album should be the accumulation of all the members’ hard work and life experiences ready for those who want to hear it. So, after forming in 2015, does this debut album, Death Is Death, deliver on all that it promises to the punk genre and more?

Remember the video game, Crazy Taxi? The fast-paced action of driving a taxi around San Francisco was accompanied by the equally fast-paced energy from its punk soundtrack. So it’s fitting that a sample from the game is used in the title track from the album, as the music of the album does feel like it belongs on the video game’s soundtrack. In more ways than one. Not only because of the fact that EAT DIRT does a great job performing the punk genre, but it is very reminiscent of another punk band, BAD RELIGION, who also utilise quick syncopated drums, loud guitar riffs, and pulse-racing bass lines. That isn’t to say this album is a rip-off of BAD RELIGION as a whole, but it is easy to see where the band’s influences come from, especially when there are harmonised choruses in songs like Moribund and Night Terrors.

The effect within the band’s instrumentation is the unclean vocals throughout the majority of the album. Fiery and crazy, powerful and funky, it’s got the spirit that the current punk scene needs. It definitely includes that fantastic punk energy within the lyrics themselves, which are shouted with such ferocity that gets every word into the heart of the listener as they shout their thoughts and feelings into the microphone, like in the tracks Out Of The Fire and Ballad.

There is only one problem with this album that does stop it from being one of the best: the length of the tracks. The majority of this 14 track album does not go longer than two minutes, making the whole listening experience feel very short and left feeling empty as there is that desire for more. It’s a shame, as this is a very well done album, worthy to be part of the punk genre and a great addition to anyone’s music library. This would make anyone’s summer just by playing this album, and we can only sit and wait to see what comes next from the guys in EAT DIRT.. Overall, Death Is Death is a solid punk album that, although feels short, does surprise the listener with just how impressive its whole sound is and truly captures what punk is all about.

Rating: 8/10

Death Is Death is out now via Bearded Punk Records.

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