Metal Blade/Black Market Activities

Either Metal Blade/ BMA have reached the bottom of the spazz/tech/grind barrel or this is some sort of Halloween joke. Chicago’s Dance Club Massacre play the now popular herky jerky, screamy, spazzy form of grindcore as plied by the likes of Destroyer Destroyer, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Arsonists Get All The Girls, labelmates The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, but the shtick here is the music is littered with 80’s horror film synths, samples and references. Apparently the fans have started calling it “Halloweencore”.

Samples and synths aside, this is your typical grating, angular heavy version of screamo dressed up as grindcore-every band with a myspace page and a Pig Destroyer album is doing it, and while the whole ‘horror’ element is an unusual twist, it comes across as horribly gimmicky and doesn’t change the fact this is completely annoying spazzcore with little to offer past the synths and horror gimmick.

You get the expected mix of squirly, screechy off kilter, chaotic riffs (“Meet Me In The Pub For A Shot Of Dignity”, “You Bring The Bitches, I’ll Bring The Dynamite”) and a few deep vocal backed breakdowns (“Wet Between the Thighs”, “The Duchess and the Cougar”,) and most of it is flocked with intermittent bursts of purposely spooky horror synths (i.e. “Devon Butler’s Dying Wishes”, You Know…You Kind Of Look Cute In The Dark”, “Murders Come With Smiles”, “Showdown in San Antonio”) which sound like they were pulled off a Walmart Halloween CD and make Cradle of Filth’s most cheesy moments look like Chopin. And of course those song titles……

This kind of music is starting to make me want to punch babies, and so far Dance Club Massacre, while not the worst offender I’ve heard this year, because they at least try something different, is still grating annoying and talentless.

[Visit the band's website]

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