Combining the chaotic and melodic with new and exciting experimentations...
"Cave In meets Deftones, meets Glassjaw, meets Thrice... but just a bit different."
That's how post hardcore/hardcore/rock pioneers Death Before Disco choose to describe themselves on their MySpace site. Sigh. None of us really like labelling and pigeon-holing bands, but I'm also slightly dubious about bands who try to encompass every genre going. This is almost the case with Death Before Disco; in fact disco is perhaps one of the few genres that doesn't get mentioned somewhere in the band's biography, which claims elements from rock, metal, prog, harcore, emo and screamo to name but a few. However, this Belgium five-piece look set to follow in the foot steps of bands like Coheed and Cambria and Thrice, who have successfully managed to make conflicting musical styles work together as a cohesive whole.
'Death Before Disco,' the band profess, 'is the living proof that if you think outside of the box, the outcome doesn't have to be abstract.' In many ways 'Barricades', the band's second full-length release (the follow up to 2004's 'Party Bullets'), illustrates this very well, as the band combine the chaotic and the melodic with new and exciting experimentations to create an extremely listenable album. Take the opener, 'Etireno', it begins with sludgy guitar and bass that opens up into a big barrage of sound followed by catchy emo vocals; but quickly, Death Before Disco prove to be more than the emo or post hardcore band you might be expecting, as they break down to picked guitar, blooming into a huge soundscape before returning to the catchy rock hooks and post hardcore wail of the intro. 'Jaguar' is equally as captivating; an abstract, eight minute masterpiece of progressive, almost jazz-like beginnings, full of thoughtful layered instrumentals of powerful proportions that disappear to a delicate twinkle only to re-emerge into a catchy, LostProphets-esque rock sound.
From there, simply take your pick. From the winding hooks and soaring prog solos of 'Goodbye' to the stomping guitars and all-out screamy hardcore of 'Pyramids on Mars' and 'Matchstick Girl', and the majesty of the closing number, 'Set The Minutes' there are exciting twists and turns perfectly coupled with catchy, listenable melodies.
Overall, an intelligent and enjoyable album with a little something for everyone - but certainly a must for lovers of Coheed and Cambria, Thursday, Thrice and The Mars Volta.