Deathcycle (2003-2009) - the final show (2/28/09)

Ultimately - every band ends (unless you're the Stones, I guess).

The reasons why bands end are probably pretty limited....and yet again - the break-up of every band is also highly individual.

I've been in bands. All but 2 of them have broken up (and one of them I was only in for a segment of their career).

[quick disclaimer: I'm not a music journalist - so forgive me if I'm not always the best at describing bands. I'm a musician, you would think I might be halfway decent at something like that - but I'm simply not. I don't know how to write to give a proper description of what a band sounds like. I could write 20 pages about what Deathcycle sounds like - and you would still have no idea - so what's the point? I will, however, be doing the best possible thing short of buying a record for you - and actually provide a YouTube link to a song (if I can find one) so you can hear it for yourself.]

Deathcycle were four guys who played heavy, fast (for the most part), angry-with-a-mission, political hardcore punk rock. I'm not in the band & I'm not their spokesperson or biographer....but the band broke-up because not all of their hearts were into it anymore and - as far as I'm concerned - that is an absolutely perfect reason to end it.

I'm glad to know the guys in the band....anyone who has been involved with the Long Island hardcore scene for any amount of time knows Ron Grimaldi, Gary Bennett, Paul Delaney & John LaFata - not just as members of this one band - but as guys who have been a part of the scene forever - and have all been in (sometimes multiple) other bands - all of whom in one way or another made an impact.

Ron is my friend & my neighbor (literally....he lives 45 seconds away...all hail Bethpage!) - and I give him rides home from shows once in awhile so we have time to talk & discuss. If we all lived our lives that way Ron lives his, we would be living in a much different world...a much better world, I think. The guy also knows more about punk rock, metal & wrestling than you'll know by a million billion ka-jillion - and as a guy who holds an M.S. in mathematics, I'll tell you, that's that a really big number.

Gary & Paul, of course as anyone familiar with the local scene knows, were in what will probably go down as the single greatest hardcore punk band to ever be from Long Island: Kill Your Idols.

Maybe some people feel that it's a little too soon to declare this - after all they only played their final show a couple of years ago....but I simply don't see how it can't be true.

For these guys - their metal band, Black Anvil, fades into view as Deathcycle fades out - in a somewhat similar way to how Deathcycle faded into view as KYI was beginning to bow out.

Not clean breaks....just a fading out and a fading in. Life takes us from one journey to the next - and it's rarely a sudden left turn.

They keep making great music - that's what matters.

John, the drummer, I hardly know compared to the other three. His drumming on the Mind Over Matter 7"'s is incredible. I think he played with Madball for a little bit too.

So after two full-length albums and a bunch of EPs & splits of punch-you-in-the-face thought-provoking (and self-reflecting) hardcore....Deathcycle has called it a day.

I can see them - as many bands do - gain popularity as the years go by and the new kids to the scene are rediscovering old records for themselves. Unlike KYI, though, where I think it MIGHT happen one day....I highly doubt you'll ever see a Deathcycle reunion show or anything like that.

The final show was on my father's 68th birthday - February 28, 2009, at the Rock Star Bar in Brooklyn.

I missed most of the opening bands. I came in during Disnihil's set. Another blistering & brutal band....but tight as all hell and GREAT drumming from Little Anthony (who's now in a billion bands - but I'll always associate him with Sick Of Talk.....another Bethpage-ite) - who it's been great to see has just grown as a drummer over the years....he's still only like 4 years old or something - so it should be pretty sick to see what he's like 10 years from now.

Also caught Inhuman....another band who has been around forever without any breaks.

Deathcycle went on & played as if it were any other show....except for the show being longer. It wasn't a feeling of greater emotion than other shows - because these guys have always left it all out there after EVERY show.

I've never really seen these guys play longer than 25 minutes or so - but tonight it felt like they probably played more like 45....and damn - they absolutely should have! It's the last hurrah....a public closing of a chapter in your life.

At the end of the show - hugs all around and a few final band photos were taken.

While "Deathcycle" - the band - may now be done...."Deathcycle", as individual people, certainly aren't. Gary & Paul are already well into their metal band, Black Anvil (who I still have yet to see - that will have to remedy itself shortly)....and I hear that Ron has already started something up with some people.

Deathcycle left a solid legacy in the history of Long Island hardcore - great records that can be revisited - whether you just want to be pummeled by the sound - or re-read the lyrics a few times and be shocked or offended or provoked or inspired.

LINKS:

Deathcycle - 10 minutes worth of live footage from ABC No Rio, NYC - 4/7/07

Deathcycle MySpace page

Disnihil MySpace page

Inhuman website

Black Anvil MySpace

Kill Your Idols MySpace