DecoyMusic.com

Sign Up | Login |

Forgot your password?

Death Before Disco - Barricades

Rating

RIYL

Swift
Trust Company
The Mars Volta
Sikth
Death Before Dishonor

Tracklist

1. Etireno
2. Barricades of Rumble
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. Jaguar
5. Goodbye
6. Pyramids of Mars
7. Matchstick Girl
8. Kill the Dancer
9. Modern Times
10. Set the Minutes

Users Rating 1 rating	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

You know what I hate? Shitty music. Stale music. Redundant, repetitive, revolting music. You know what I like? Music that seems like it would be shitty, stale, redundant, repetitive, and revolting, but turns out to be reasonably revolutionary. Death Before Disco kinda seems like they'd fit into the "what I hate" pile, but the fact that they sound like Coheed and Cambria with less-shrunken testicles and an even heftier dose of metal upbringing (as well as the ability to write huge hooks that the average sing-along hero can pull off without breaking into a nasal falsetto that will leave all his friends questioning his true gender orientation) makes me think that maybe they're more along the "what I like" train of thought.

Death Before Disco's not just some band trying to cash in on a craze. They're a good band trying to cash in on a craze while simultaneously pushing that craze to an even higher height, postponing its death knell by a good three to four months. The opening quartet of tracks on Barricades gives a hint to what Sikth's latest release should have sounded like (and, admittedly, occasionally did). Throughout the course of Barricades, there's the distinctive mark of Swift-inspired riffs, the Blindside-esque vocals, the deadly Swift/Blindside arrangement style combo, but with the oomph! that those two bands never quite seemed to muster on a consistent basis.

This album transforms power metal, tech metal, and pop punk into something that can be absorbed by anybody, yet can also remain appreciated by those with even the most delicate and fragile of tastes for any of the genres. Of course, you can't always combine this stuff and be the greatest thing ever (although that's entirely possible). You're pretty much guaranteed to hit some snags along the way that make your album come across like less a masterpiece and more a three-five outtuva nic. That shit's bound to happen when you have a song that bears a passing resemblance to TrustCompany's "Downfall," though. That's a no-no in pretty much every book about music ever written. Seriously, if you're going to take that road, why not just become a Trapt cover band?

Fortunately, Death Before Disco is too smart to make a move like that. Just because they're from Belgium doesn't mean they need to waffle on making a decision like that. Some would argue that failing to make the move to Trapt cover band extraordinaire is stupid, but those are the same people responsible for the retardation of the average music listener, so we'll just discount those douchebags. The be-all, end-all of this album is that it's a superb blend of a lot of contrasting styles without seeming like it's trying to be some boundary-breaking, imaginative, original masterpiece. It simply is content with being what it is, without building any walls around itself. Without building any Barricades around itself, if one were so inclined. I, for one, am so inclined.

As stated before, trey dot five-spot outta the half-dime. Rock with no frills, but plenty of gimmicks. Not fruity gimmicks like bringing back cock-rock and feathered hair or heavy application of eyeliner, though. Not the kind of gimmick that makes Chris Conlan gush over them like they're the second coming of Jesus or, at the very least, a high-budget Hollywood remake of Jesus Christ Superstar, featuring that chode from Saosin as Christ Almighty Him-fucking-self. No, not the new guy. The one that left to record that Juturna album I could never get into. More like, "We have talent and we're not afraid to show it by pulling off awesome, though brief, solos and subtle, ingenious transitions. You can firmly believe we're not going to be on American Idol or America's Got Talent or So You Think You Can Dance or even Dancing With The Stars or Big Brother to help further our careers because, frankly, we'd also like to have some credibility when all is said and done, even if we do end up selling hundreds of thousands of records based around some highly accessible songs and our dashing good looks. Also, we're not American, which pretty much discounts us from entrances on any of those shows to begin with." I guess that really doesn’t count as a gimmick. Hopefully, you got my rambling, incoherent point.

If you didn't, here's a sane summary: Good, but not great. Inventive, but not weird. Three and a half out of five stars.

--Ben Rice

Author

sir mix-a-lot

Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:54PM

Comments

Dave Spak

09/06/2006

10:05AM

Location
Boston, MA

I was working on a review of this. But this works out since you gave the same score I would have and said pretty much the same thing except a little more long-winded. I also never understood why everyone liked Juturna...

Stereo Typing

Tweet at me, bro

Rick Gebhardt

09/06/2006

12:42PM

Age: 31

Location
Minnesota

At first listen I didn't even give this band any attention. They just floated by in the background. Upon a more focused listen, however, I found this to be a very good release. It is a successful mish-mash of so many genres and it doesn't suck like most bands that try to cross genre borders.

Find me EVERYWHERE: