The Callous Daoboys "I Don't Want to See You in Heaven"

Written by Callum Hales

The Callous Daoboys’ newest release is their most cohesive work to date while maintaining their unique and experimental sound. I had the chance to see them at both 2023 Blissmas shows. The stage presence and energy were incredible. Seeing stage divers and moshers while a violinist and saxophone player were on stage was a little surreal. The mathcore band has experimented with a variety of genres on previous releases and continues on I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven. There are guitar squeals that could be from a Gojira track, along with violin and horns.

Lyrically, the album explores creativity, legacy, success, and failure. While creating a piece of art may be extremely rewarding for the artist, it is not always appreciated by others unless it is commercially successful. Vocalist Carson Pace elaborates on that feeling in an interview with Dork.

The Callous Daoboys blend mathcore, metalcore, post-hardcore, alt-rock, jazz, electronic, Latin, and a myriad of other genres on the album. While some songs stick with one sound throughout, many mix and change sounds throughout. Opener ‘Schizophrenia Legacy’ starts as a chaotic mathcore song but also contains melodic vocals and saxophone led instrumental breaks. ‘Tears on Lambo Leather’ has some of the albums’ most aggressive vocals, thanks in part to a feature from Orthodox’s Adam Easterling, but also has an electronic break with autotuned vocals. Both ‘The Demon of Unreality Limping Like a Dog’ and ‘Idiot Temptation Force’ have heavier aggressive sections and danceable Latin interludes with steel drums and horns. ‘Full Moon Guidance’ has the sound of an Every Time I Die song mixing metalcore with clean vocals. ‘Two-Headed Trout’ and ‘Douchebag Safari’ open melodically before building to chaotic mathcore climaxes. ‘Lemon’ is one of the more emotionally raw songs. It has a strong bassline, acoustic guitars being strummed, and catchy vocals. It blends seamlessly into Body Horror for Birds, a relaxed instrumentally focused song with clean vocals. ‘Distracted by the Mona Lisa’, is a melodic alt-rock anthem following a more conventional song structure while displaying Pace’s vocal range and unique background instrumentals and lots of phaser pulses. Closer ‘III. Country Song in Reverse’ clocks in at just under 12 minutes is a mashup of most of the sounds already heard on the album, it’s a great summary track displaying the bands’ full dynamic range of sounds.

This mix of genres explored in under an hour at face value sound like they would create an overambitious and mismatched mess. However it comes out as The Callous Daoboys most cohesive album. Even though I was shocked at how quickly some songs switched sounds into something completely unexpected I felt like I could see how all the puzzle pieces fit. There are multiple songs I come back to individually but the album is also great as a collective piece. 

8/10 Listen to “Two-Headed Trout,” “Lemon,” and “Distracted by the Mona Lisa”