The Callous Daoboys’ New Chaotic Mathcore LP Is Absolutely Crazy In The Best Way

The Callous Daoboys’ new album Die On Mars almost immediately proves itself an absolutely off-the-rails ride through musical chaos like a days-long manic episode or other frenzy that simmers under the surface for weeks, months, and even years on end translated into sonic form. Their music flips out of control over and over again, letting that chaos be its defining element and not just a garnish on top. This is like Jurassic Park after the storm rolls in and the electricity gets cut — the feeling pervades that anything goes and you might be in a mad rush for some kind of refuge, but there is none for the time that Die On Mars plays.

The band accomplish their feats of frenzy through a conglomeration of an array of textures that have been elevated into something far more poignant than they could be on their own or even with just a few of the others that make an appearance on the record. You could describe The Callous Daoboys as an extremely chaotic mathcore band, winding in and out of unhinged structures packed full with sonic spikes jutting out all sorts of directions, although even from there, the band add some unique elements. There are a couple of audio samples of in context completely unnerving religious sentiment that pop up, and there’s even a brief rapped part packed in towards the conclusion. The final track is almost entirely a soft but surging piano composition (with one of those audio samples), and occasionally, the band even sound like an emo outfit, with clean vocals and rather straightforward guitar lines.

In other words, around every corner, you’ve got no idea what you’re going to get, making this creation an absolutely exhilarating experience on top of the endlessly surging base.

On Die On Mars, The Callous Daoboys aren’t just another metalcore or mathcore band with some unique elements thrown in — they’re an entirely different beast. Their new album is an immersive experience that’s far out ahead of or at least separate from any kind of conventional songwriting. Their point feels like not just providing a “good time” or even an interesting experience that ultimately, remains separate from the listener and in the “bubble” of the song or album, not that those kinds of compositions can’t be great too. Still, this band operate differently, with their music only barely metaphorically springing to life from your speaker once hitting play, upending the chair you’re sitting in, dumping you on the floor, and shouting in your face. If you want to have the most surging currents of energy coursing through your psyche pushed to the absolute limit, this is the band for you.

5/5 Stars

Listen to Die On Mars below, dropping in full via Dark Trail Records on June 21.