Death Before Dishonor

Count Me In

[3.5/5]

Death Before Dishonor’s long-time-coming full-length debut Count Me In could only be more Boston if it had a Red Sox cap on its cover. These blue-collar guys are pushing 30, and even though music has been their main concern for a while, they still riff like they’re operating heavy machinery. The disc does owe a fair debt to New York hardcore from the past two decades, and while the pneumatic breakdowns and bulldozer guitar tones are every bit as metallic as modern NYHC, the songs are far less rote. Beantown’s hardest bands have always rocked a little more, as DBD do in hidden track “Boston Belongs To Me.” With a lyrical nod to the Standells’ barroom classic “Dirty Water,” the hometown tribute is exactly midway between Agnostic Front and the Dropkick Murphys, with a shout-along chorus and a guitar solo that squeals like a bagpipe. Scorsese should use it in the closing credits for his next flick. (BRIDGE NINE) D.X. Ferris