Album of the Month: Bet on the Possibility - Death Side
There's a certain biting and spitting attitude that can be found in so much of the metal and punk that comes from Japan. From the crusty death metal weight of Coffins to Think Again's blistering and vitriolic hardcore. But to me, the definitive group in the "burning spirits" sound that is so predominant in Japanese hardcore punk is Tokyo's Death Side. The group balances slower, more ominous passages, and melodic guitar leads alongside the usual D-beats and wailing vocals. And it's their second and final album, Bet on the Possibility, that serves as their definitive statement.
Bet on the Possibility is a hardcore album through and through, but like many of their Japanese contemporaries, Death Side built their sound out of a diverse sound palette. Take the almost violently melodic guitar leads on "Fight Your Way", which commandeer the song and hit like a slap in the face. Or consider "水の扉"s massive bass tone and slow, droning, almost martial sound, like that of those hand-crank war sirens. It's a particular strength of Bet on the Possibility, a surprising variety in the substance that makes up the tracks.
What these elements serve to supplement is itself a quite interesting slurry of grunted vocals, buzzing lead guitar, and a bubbly round bass tone. It's been addressed before that artists in the burning spirits genre take a substantial influence from classic heavy metal acts like Iron Maiden, and this claim really does hold water. The bass on "Live and Live" has a similar near-gallop and bounding tone as on Maiden's "The Trooper". Then you have the guitar solos, which are traditionally very rare in punk. But Death Side really makes me question that standard, with solos breaking up the structure and revitalizing songs like "Loosing Time" and "Crossfire". And from another source, the churning riffs of "Life is Only Once" and others are a bit reminiscent of the more punk side of Motörhead.
All throughout its runtime this album defies expectation for a hardcore record from 1991. Not from obtuse instrumentalism like Drive Like Jehu and not through avant-garde expression like Midori, because Death Side is a crusty hardcore band through and through. Instead, Bet on the Possibility simply does whatever is necessary to complement a song. Very little is off the table, through a litany of thundering drum parts, brief but explicit melodic guitar, piano interludes, and slow atmospheric sections Death Side breaks the mold on their genre while staying true to the cement and steel of '80s/'90s hardcore.