I Don't Want to See You In Heaven

The Callous Daoboys

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Given the Atlanta, Georgia band's reputation for making unpredictably volatile mathcore, you'd think I would have gotten into The Callous Daoboys much sooner. With the band's third record I Don't Want to See You In Heaven, I finally made the effort to find out what the band was bringing to the table. Right from the get go, I can see the bold decisions the band makes when it comes to the genre fusions, song structures, as well as the panicked sounds that are customary with this style of metal. While the mixing of metal with R&B and jazz is nothing new -- The Dillinger Escape Plan was doing it twenty-five years ago, there's a whole subgenre dedicated to this very distinct fusion (Swancore), and bands like Sleep Token are demonstrating that the sound has potential to be a commercial smash -- what makes The Callous Daoboys sound novel in this respect are the lengths they go to in order to be as subversive as possible, even by mathcore standards. It's not just that they contrast clean guitars, soulfully crooned vocals, and saxophone solos with tremor-inducing passages coupled with unhinged screams and truly disgusting guitar noises or electronics. It's the manic, and frankly random, presentation of all these elements that, for someone who has been a fan of the mathcore genre for quite some time now, found the album to be a substantial shock to the system.

While I honestly appreciate the effort, often times I feel like it is a double edged sword. Tracks like Schizophrenia Legacy shift so drastically from one idea to the next that I find it really hard to lock into the flow. There are also many moments where the sound play and animalistic vocal performances are so over the top that they come off as farcical rather than intimidating. The racing synth noises at the beginning of Tears on Lambo Leather, the brostep-tinged synths at the end of Douchebag Safari, and the barked vocals on The Demon of Unreality Limping Like a Dog or Idiot Temptation Force are all examples of the band dangerously approaching a point of parody. The Callous Daoboys appear to have a great sense of humour, so I don't think they would be offended if I likened them to the 'class clown.' I'm sure the strong reactions their music elicits is what draws people in, but for me personally, it's not exactly to my taste.

Even with these nitpicky issues, the songs I mentioned are only slightly soured. I still find them to be somewhat enjoyable and executed effectively for what they are going for. This is more than I can say for Lemon and Body Horror for Birds. The former is a much poppier cut that features a rather stagnant drum loop and some Spanish-flavoured acoustic guitar. I feel like this is a song I could hear Ed Sheeran perform which is the furthest thing from what I want to hear. Even when the full band kicks in for a more energetic final chorus, the damage has already been done. This track goes right into Body Horror for Birds which is an even more unflattering cut that really didn't need to be almost six minutes. The instrumental sounds like a lounge piece that has been drenched in reverb, and 1ST VOWS contributes my least favourite vocals on the record as well.

With the negative stuff out of the way, I can say there were two songs that I did really like. I thought Full Moon Guidance did a much better job of dispersing the energy throughout the track as it moved through its different phases. We start with a heavy, nu-metal riff that could have come straight out of Chocolate Starfish. It goes incredibly hard, especially with all the wild harmonics flying around. A little later, we get an angular post-hardcore riff that has a nice octave effect on it. This section transitions nicely into a quintessential Swancore chorus with rapidly strum jazz chords and some pretty phenomenal drumming from Marty Hague.

As good as that song is though, Distracted By the Mona Lisa still clears it by a mile. I know it's off the band's beaten path, but it's a brilliantly written, straightforward hard rock tune. The production is immaculate with elements like the haunting top line that I believe comes from Amber Christman's violin over the intro. It sounds like a ghostly whale song. The verses are low key, but the production here with the collage of clean guitars and digital noise is supremely beautiful; providing a solid foundation for Pace to deliver his best clean singing on the record. The bridge on this song is also incredible, combining a surprisingly rapturous riff with some rather aggressive digital edits. The riff is initially teased over some roomy drums who's signal cuts in and out due to some technical malfunction. Then with a searing scream from Pace over a piercing stutter, we are launched into a crushing breakdown in which we get to bask in the riff's full glory. This song, despite being one of the more even-keeled tracks, was so impressive and memorable that I'm confident it will rank high on my year end list.

I Don't Want to See You In Heaven didn't turn out to be for me, but I can see how one might enjoy it. It has boundless energy with unexpected twists at every turn. I also appreciate how the production has that modern metal punch while maintaining the dynamics and performance intricacies; something most modern metal records fail to achieve these days. Perhaps if the songwriting were a little more consistent and they didn't lean so heavily into the shock factor, I could be enticed to return to their music. However, as they stand now, I think The Callous Daoboys are decently fine.