These guys represent the under appreciated side of Dance Gavin Dance, the core of the sound the exists without Johnny or Tillian that draws from metal and older post-hardcore/metalcore influences. This record is Jon Mess’ vocal playground where we get to hear just how versatile DGD’s unclean vocalist can be with his unique sound. As far as my appreciation of DGD, the guitars are what always carried their tunes through and the unclean vocals from Mess were some of the clearest and expressive screaming I’ve heard. The success of the Justin Timberlake-esque vocalist in the mix is what spawned a million imitation bands and changed the definition sound of post-hardcore, it became a theatrical farce more than poetry and catharsis. It was a nice sound for a couple of albums but after the whole scene replicated it, it lost its charm and became the standard. For an older fan it sucks watching them live and just seeing these guys who look like they have STD’s in their hair, air humping along to lyrics about love, facing a crowd of underage girls. That’s the side of DGD I can’t fucking stand, and so here is SECRETBAND – the anti-thesis to Isles & Glaciers. Similar to Fear Before and The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza. […]
