Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Spitfire (USA) - Dead Next Door (1999)

Madness is what you can expect in any noise-ridden math/metalcore release. Songs can range from short to radio-sized and have at least one long-ish epic. Spitfire's debut Dead Next Door may be at the same quality level as Nora's Loser's Intuition, but the mathcore part of the sound is slightly more...

It's not just pure math/metalcore that I often hear in this album. Occasionally, there's a slight touch of alt-rock/grunge. One might call this band a more hardcore Nirvana. But why should that be what we would know them as? Clearly, noise-fueled metalcore is their goal. Oh, and I just realized that this band isn't related to one of the earliest (and worst) mathcore bands out there, Nineironspitfire. Spitfire's debut is by far better than Nineironspitfire's sole release, so let's check it out.

"Please Don't Go Out Tonight", especially not in my country when it will soon be Hungry Ghost Month as of this review! But seriously, that song is a great start that shouldn't be overlooked. Not as great as the interesting highlight "The Two Forty Eight Lie" with its different tempo changes from fast hardcore to slow sludge. There's plenty of chaos in "Render Quench Create". Unfortunately, it doesn't have much focus and tears apart the album's greatness. "Marasmus" is around to make up for that with some of the more hardcore riffing to occur in this album.

"A Glance at Quintenessence" I consider one of the most quintessential songs in early math/metalcore, with Rosetta-esque sludgy tempo. "Good Cop, Bad Cop" is another one of my favorites, long with fast riffs especially at the end. "All Indentured Lovables" is a beautiful interlude while keeping listeners on their seats with heaviness at the end.

"The Burgundy Room" ends up marking the album's descent back into the sh*tty quality of the 3rd track. The bass and drums ruin the band's intention of bringing together hardcore and metal. "What Ever Happened to the Indie Queen" has some nice mathcore, but that kind of sound is better executed by Ion Dissonance. "DJ Jazzy Steve" is a strange closing track, even for me. Jazzy Steve, whoever you are, cut that sh*t out please.

Dead Next Door isn't your typical hardcore album. It has the noise and chaos of any math-metalcore album. I would enjoy and appreciate this more if not for a couple poor tracks including that d*mn remix-ish track at the end. As much as I like all this beauty and brutality, it would take a little more improvement to make this grab my attention....

Favorites: "The Two Forty Eight Lie", "Marasmus", "A Glance at Quintenessence", "Good Cop, Bad Cop", "All Indentured Lovables"