Borne out of familiar punk bands such as *Broccoli, Annalise *and messy noise-core crew *Hard To Swallow, Dead Inside *are a fiery bunch of individuals that have chosen to specialise in the kind of kick-ass discordant hardcore that’s more akin to *Hot Water Music, Burning Airlines *and *Fugazi *that the heavier tough guy breed.

So, what you get is fast, intricate and abrasive hardcore that, at times, can get quite messy. Essentially though, it’s well thought-out and skilfully played music that uncovers new dimensions with each listen. ‘You Decide’, ‘Smashed’ _and the punchy ‘Bottleneck 2001’ are such songs, the hammering musical refrain of the latter building on the lines _“pour me another one / poured down my neck / to create a bottleneck”, the snarls of ex-HTS vocalist bloody Kev being appropriately spat back in your face.

However, his vocal style is an acquired taste and you may find yourself screwing up your face more than he is at you. Incidentally, it was his vocals that caused founding guitarist Larry Hibbit to leave early 2000, joining *Hundred Reasons *soon after. Together with the melodic tendencies of ex-*Annalise *guitarist Paul Symes, Dead Inside have a sound that grows on you. Ok, so it can get a tad too jangular and complicated at times but that’s their appeal and I don’t think the members of DI could imagine exorcising their rage any other way.

Definately a band to watch this year and a nice package as well having been designed by Jason Farrell, creator of much of the Dischord artwork.