Make Crossover Attack Again

The late and great Lemmy Kilmister was once quoted as saying "We want to be the band where if we moved in next door to you, your lawn would die.", naturally in between sessions of eating the rich. While this suggestion was obviously a cartoonish one told in jest, there are times where bands that have adopted a fairly similar blend of nastiness and metallic rage make that a fitting visual to go with what is hitting one's ear drums. Arguably the most conducive style to this timeless joke would be the crossover variant of thrash metal, as it displays a fast-paced and highly primitive blend of hardcore and speeding fury that is of a similar mind to the glory days of early Motorhead, naturally with its own distinctive features. It's in keeping with all of this that a band named Death In Your Yard (D.I.Y.Y. for short) makes a world of sense, particularly in this day and age where crossover has become fashionable again thanks to the efforts of Municipal Waste and a few others.

The name of the game when it comes to selling the crossover sound, be it to newcomers or veterans alike, is doing more with less, and it is in this regard that this Israeli outfit of neck-destroyers excels on their debut Make Crossover Attack Again. Putting aside the ubiquity of America's current president's campaign slogan and various quirky gaffes and sayings, musically this is a fairly impressive take on the style that chooses its riffs well, an absolute must given there is usually only room for two or three before the songs cut out. The vocal work is a fairly stereotypical and a little indistinct punk-infused yell that borders on monotone at times, representing one of the weak spots in this outfit when compared with the likes of recognizable icons like Billy Milano, Tito Matos or the younger Tony Foresta, but the instrumentalists backing up Alon Hoffman's syllabic rants are on point and even show some exemplary elements when compared with the aforementioned vocalists' bands.

As with any hybrid album of hardcore sensibilities and thrash metal flash, the stronger elements generally show themselves when the band manages to drag things a bit past the two-minute mark. A good example is the multifaceted "Milwaukee Slaughterer", which slows things up a bit and incorporates some Black Sabbath elements in the riff work, not to mention give guitarist Nadav Zaxxx a chance to show his abilities beyond banging out Slayer-sounding riffs at lightning speed. Having said that, while the guitar work is a tad more technical than the likes of S.O.D. or Municipal Waste and the drum work is fast and precise enough to pass for Charlie Benante, bassist Cyrill Kravtsoff proves to be the most intricate player in this arrangement, providing some distinctive introductory and solo material on otherwise interchangeable ditties like "Filthy Clerk", the blast-beat infused "Skull Full Of Beer Bong" and the longer Wehrmacht homage of a title song "Death In Your Yard".

This is an overall decent and well executed album that could stand to have a better vocalist and maybe tone down the overt Discharge and Black Flag influences just a tad, as there are times where this thing does veer almost completely out of the metal style (i.e. "2000 Beers" and "The Mask Is The Law"). It doesn't pack quite the same degree of punch as a typical Municipal Waste or D.R.I. album as the guitar tone is a bit too muddy and lacking in bite (think the bass-heavy tone that typified Black Flag's early works), but what it may lack in crunch it does make up for with a solid display of instrumental ability. Although this is fast-paced crossover that will leave no vertebrae in alignment, it is not sloppily done or lack in overall cohesion. With a more competent shouter similar to Foresta leading this bunch, they'd be all the better for it, though even with a generic punk vocalist there is plenty of potential here.

This review is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Santaniello, aka Diamhea. (R.I.P.)