DYS - 1985 LP

DYS - 1985 LP/ 'Fire & Ice'

How does one follow up from SSD's 'How We Rock'?
With another controversial Boston punk release, obviously!

To preface this review, check out the Dave Smalley interview with 'Dissonance Radio' that covers
the Boston Crew, DYS, 'going metal', the infamous'salamander', Dag Nasty, straight-edge, politics, Down By Law, and artistic growth. http://dissonance.libsyn.com/7_15_08_dave_smalley

DYS were part of the 'Boston Crew', a bunch of straight-edge mostaphios who were allegedly violent to those who didn't agree with their politics. I can't comment with any authority as I wasn't even born then. What I can say with confidence is that DYS put out a seminal record 'Brotherhood' that stands ground as one of the best hardcore records ever, heck, best punk records ever, actually...one of the best records ever.

By the mid eighties many-a-punk band started 'evolving', this usually meant adding guitar soloing, placing melody and songwriting over brutality, and favoring dynamics over sheer speed. Naturally, many people branded this direction as 'metal'. This has always bugged me, why can't you become better at your instrument within the punk lexicon? Why does learning how to play different rhythms and techniques have to be considered 'metal'? Especially for 'hardcore' bands, do you know how boring it would be to write the same stuff for 5+ years? As much as I love it, it doesn't leave any obvious routes to take for expanding.When people criticize hardcore bands for branching out, testing out new rhythms and approaches, it weirds me out.

I've seen people call this self-titled, aka 'Fire & Ice', a 'Master Of Puppets' rip-off (the hell, seriously? 'Master...' came out in 86'), a terrible metal record, a sell-out, a 'hard rock' record, and a betrayal. It makes you wonder what goes on in some people heads, it really does.

I'm just gonna put it out there, Dave Smalley sounds great. Unlike SSD, in which Springa kept his guttural shouts, Dave shows off an impressive range, all but abandoning his shout. I can see why this would be seen as 'metal', or sell-out, but who cares if the songs are good? Not only is Smalley's range good, his tone is great, very much reminiscent of his Dag Nasty work. Due to the vocals, and some of the guitar work, this record reminds me of 80s 'emo' but with a lot more chugging and solos. Which, at least for me, is a good thing. Much like 'How We Rock' the rhythm guitar work is pretty much heavy hardcore, but unlike 'How We Rock', the guitar solos are tasteful and keep in minor keys.

So lets tackle this beast, track by track:
As the opening track, 'Late Night' has a lot to prove for the 'new and improved' DYS. While being one of the shortest tracks, 'Late Night' condenses many of the different approaches into one song, with its shifts in tempo, guitar lead breaks and ambitious melodic vocals. Admittedly, its not the strongest song here, so don't judge the whole record by it.

'Echoes' and 'The Loner' properly show off the riffy, Sabbath-ish, elements, with some-gasp-metal riffs. If anything, these tracks are what the record is all about. Its punk, its rock, its metal, all rolled into one.

I suppose one of the biggest controversies is the ballad 'Closer Still' which is placed, slap-bang in the middle of the record. As for someone who likes ballads that build up into a heavy tune, like Metallica's 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)', 'Closer Still' is well written, it has a nice texture to it, good dynamics, a epic solo, and features fantastic singing by Dave. As far as heavy ballads (note: not power-ballads) go, this is a really good tune.

'Which Side Am I' is a good indication of the 'metal' aspects. There is no denying that riff, that's for sure. Its a pretty long tune at around 5 minutes, with the obligatory guitar solos. I can see where the Metallica comparisons lie here, especially with the theatrical main riff. For some reason I get a 'Creeping Death' vibe from it.

'No Pain, No Gain' and 'Held Back' are straight up Boston hardcore, no doubt about that. It's strange that they are kept to the very end of the record. You'd think the hardcore tracks would be up-front. With that said, there is a good amount of solos chucked in for good measure and some stop/starts. Instead of reverting to shouting, Dave continues to sing on these decidedly more frenetic cuts.

The closer 'Graffiti' has a  real Sabbath feel to it, with the mighty groove riff looming over like
a monolith. Sure, it speeds up but soon breaks down into the swampy goodness. A good way to end this controversial release.

So how to summaries? While this is often lauded as one of the worst cases of 'going metal' in punk history, but in reality, its a good record. While it is stylistically different to 'Brotherhood', it shows a band reaching out for a bigger horizon while sticking to their roots. While the cynics may believe the hardcore tracks are there to appease their core audience, i don't think its out of hand to think that they were just evolving from being mean-ass Bostonian hardcore to something more ambitious. This isn't 'crossover' as we know it in-terms of DRI, Ludichrist, et all. Like SSD, there is a mix of punk, metal and a healthy dose of rock. This isn't about speed, its about songs.

Linky Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!1URxAZiD!Ct19aTFjgO9JElIokgoabRPmPnEQamBUz_gFIRZjLdA