Do You Miss Any Bricks?

Since releasing the Derailed single a little while back, there's been something of a shift in Dyst's sound for 7-inch Do You Miss Any Bricks?. They've taken a bit of a step away from the obvious Refused influence of Derailed, becoming more metallic and savage in the process. Do You Miss Any Bricks? hits the listener with the same lurching mathy riffs as metalcore legends Botch, though perhaps there's a little more melody to this than We Are The Romans. Living Tragedies comes out of the gate heavy as anything, before building to a soaring, surprisingly tuneful climax. It's a nice enough tune, but the real stellar track is second song Black Stars (pun not intended). It's like the best bits of Converge's melodic side put in a blender and although it may not quite have the earthshaking power of Jane Doe's title track, it's still the strongest material I've heard from Dyst yet. Everything about Do You Miss Any Bricks? feels bigger and better than Dyst's previous outing. The production is thicker, heavier and more powerful than before, the twin guitar attack in particular creating a mighty roar. The songwriting has come on leaps and bounds, with Black Stars in particular being an all-timer. The only flaw I can really level at Do You Miss Any Bricks? is that it's much, much too short. At only two tracks it feels like a mere taster of what the band are capable of. I'm sure the band have a lot more songs in the tank, and hopefully before too long the band'll be able to put out a longer EP, or ideally a full album. The band still feel like they have yet to reach their full potential, but if they continue their artistic growth at this rate any future releases will be nothing short of spectacular. Derailed was good, but this is great. Definitely ones to watch.