Band: Dance Club Massacre
Album: Feast of The Blood Monsters
Genre: Grindcore/Dance Grind
Label: Blackmarket
Tracks:
1. Dios Mio El Diablo es Muy Picante
2. Meet Me In The Pub For A Shot Of Dignity
3. Devon Butlers Dying Wishes
4. You Know You Kinda Look Cute In The Dark
5. Wet Between The Thighs
6. Murders Come With Smiles
7. The Duchess And The Cougar
8. Showdown In San Antonion
9. You Bring The Bitches I’ll Bring The Dynamite
10. You’re What The French Call Les Incompetents
Whoever says the Midwest has nothing to offer, but corn fields and slow drivers has never heard of Dance Club Massacre. These Illinois’ boys have spent the last few years building up a strong following in the grind genre. They tour extensively and have managed to release and ep and full length on their own, then get signed to Blackmarket Activities [home of Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza, Destroy Destroy Destroy, From A Second Story Window, etc] and have their album remastered, repackaged, and re-released. For a scene where bands come and go faster than you can reload your myspace, Dance Club Massacre’s, “Feast of the Blood Monsters,” shows a band planted on the edge of a career with signs of longevity.
The first thing you’re sure to notice about DCM’s debut is the artwork. The cover is very comic book like with what we can only take to be a “blood monster” which resembles a mutated spider with blood dripping from it’s mouth, a blond woman impaled on one of it’s claws, all while it stands upon a mound of bones. If that doesn’t set the tone, nothing else will. The opening track plays like an eerie 1950’s horror intro with static, low synth tones, and hand picked strings. The tension builds as you await the unknown. After two minutes of building, the following track, “Meet Me IN The Pub For A Shot of Dignity,” last less than a minute and can only be summarized as the musical equivalent to being struck in the throat. From there, the next song clocks in under two minutes and the force of the band never lets up. The songs flow nearly seamlessly without once letting up. The drums rely heavily on the high hat, snare, bass drum trio. The vocals are shear power, moving from high tones like that of See You Next Tuesday to much more moderate, Josh Scogin-esque stylings. Keys are found on every track, constantly playing creepy, horror-influenced tones that continue to not only set the mood, but wrap the listener in the world of DCM and the guitars shred violently almost as if played by machine.
Now, there are a few downsides to DCM’s debut album. For starters, like all grind albums, the songs begin to sound similar and the seamless flow comes back to haunt the band as it is hard to tell when some end and others begin. The keys dark tones are key to the idea behind the album, but they seem to repeat the same chords and time signatures multiple times to the point where I found myself wondering if I’d already heard the song that was playing. Aside from this, the biggest hit to DCM is the pure quality of the recording. When you hear the term, “remastered,” you, probably like me, mentally prepare yourself for above average quality sound, but this is not the case. The drums are very empty, the vocal levels are very infrequent in and between songs, and the bass is almost not there. If the original recording was so bad that this is the upgrade, perhaps it would have been best to just have the band re-record the release. However, in this industry, money is key, and remastering is a lot cheaper. Even with a sound quality less than most label releases, Dance Club Massacre’s, “Feast Of The Blood Monsters,” is a fury to be reckoned with. From the dark art layout, to the horror-based tone, to the throat shredding vocals, DCM have crafted a stunning debut that will surely draw new fans and give them a reason to stick with the band for awhile.
GRADE: 7/10
No related posts.
