EP REVIEW: Dust And Ashes – Day By Day

South Florida’s DAY BY DAY have clearly seen no reason to try and play catch-up with all that has changed in the world of hardcore since the last time we heard from them. Dust And Ashes – their first new music in the best part of seven years – picks up pretty much exactly where they left off with their killer debut full-length Nowhere To Run back in 2018, which, to be clear, is by no means a bad thing.

Recorded live in the studio with the masterful Andy Nelson (WEEKEND NACHOS, HARM’S WAY, JESUS PIECE), this 12-minute EP has a proper raw and gritty vibe that suits DAY BY DAY’s confrontational and reasonably classic take on metallic hardcore perfectly. It’s still a way off the make your ears bleed stuff that some people go for – each to their own, of course – but it’s just rough enough around the edges to feel genuinely alive and dangerous while still retaining all the chunk and weight and muscle it needs to compete with the scene’s heavier hitters.

Lead single Until Then…It’s War is probably the pick of the bunch and perhaps most emblematic of DAY BY DAY’s primary M.O. – a nasty, groove-heavy bludgeoning with frontman Ian Dolan’s desperate, hawkish vocals bolstered and echoed back to him by all manner of screeches and bellows from guitarist Jared Hutcherson and bassist Joey Collery (and in this particular track’s case also some brutish gutturals from Dalton Rivas of fellow Floridians THREE KNEE DEEP). But there is some variety within the record’s tight runtime too; fourth track Peace Or Annihilation? absolutely careens through a scant 46 seconds and still manages to feel properly fleshed-out, while closer Fakes & Liars II gets low and slow and moody in a way that really highlights the dark and desolate atmosphere that hangs over these six tracks.

Ultimately Dust And Ashes is a great re-introduction – or perhaps even just a regular introduction to anyone checking them out because they’re on the wonderful Flatspot Records – to all that made and clearly still makes DAY BY DAY such a lethal unit. Whether you’re familiar with their previous efforts or not, if you like the kind of hardcore that feels like a stray limb could come flailing out of your speakers or headphones and twat you on the nose at any moment then this EP should go down a treat.

Rating: 8/10

Dust And Ashes is set for release on January 17 2025 via Flatspot Records.

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