Dan Hillier
However, when the group dropped Die On Mars in 2019, any resounding quires about the band where immediately answered. In fact, it wouldn’t be too hyperbolic to say that any mouths asking questions where stopped mid-inquiry in part to having their jaws hit the floor. Mastering the type of bewildering mathcore as absurdist as their namesake, Die On Mars cut through the noise generated by the hordes of fellow mathcore pursuitits emerging at the time and saw The Callous Daoboys become one of the most promising names within all things frantic, spontaneous and destructive. It was – and nigh on still is – a fantastic record, one that captured the zeitgeist of self-destructive mathcore that is used as a vessel to narrate the folly of modern life. Despite it’s retained brilliance however, it greatly pales in comparison to it’s successor; enter Celebrity Therapist – the current frontrunner for album of the year 2022.
To say this album builds upon what came before it would be a significant understatement. Whilst it is a continuation of the sound of Die On Mars – a record constructed upon the foundation laid by acts such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Chariot and Botch – Celebrity Therapist see’s The Callous Daoboys building their sound so high that the foundations lie miles below. The thrall of Gordian mathcore remains as the crux, but there’s so much going on in this record that to call it a mathcore record feels limiting and restricting to an insulting degree.
Throughout the sidewinding 37 minutes that span this record, components of jazz, post-rock, world music, sasscore and sugar-laced contemporary pop are fused into the band’s now impulsive musical integrity. It sounds chaotic, and yes, it irrefutably is. But what separates this record from the quagmire of releases that have failed in the art of genre alchemy is how seamless and organic it feels; the septet have committed to every madcap element of this record with full ironclad conviction, resulting in a record that’s not just completely genrephobic, but one filled with counteracting hooks and motifs that work in violent synergy with each other.
But even with this record being filled with more loops and twists than that hypothetical rollercoaster designed for human euthanasia, every single one of the eight tracks featured is utterly unforgettable; an utter achievement for a record that deals in absolute impulsivity. The delirious genre-fusion is partly in thanks for this, with each song being served as a unique result in free-spirited musical experimentation. Whether it be the mathcore intwined with sci-fi inspired spoken word in ‘A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops’, the slam salsa dance between hardcore and latin pop of ‘Field Sobriety Practice’ or the acidic waltzing jazz cut with ultraviolence within ‘What Is Delicious? Who Swarms?’, every track has it’s own core identity whilst still being an unmistakeable product of this record. Furthermore, whilst the amalgamation of such stylings sounds impulsive and unpredictable, it’s clearly been executed with pinpointed and organic precision. The instrumentation on this record is simply spectacular and awe-inspiring; such madcap fretboard abuse and thrashing twists are executed with a sense of class and sophistication that is stereotypically void within the experimental mathcore sound.
Even with all of this consideration, it would be impossible not to discuss the album without delving into one of it’s most unexpected natures – it’s just so haplessly catchy. This record is furious, lacerating, berserking but yet it’s filled with countless hooks, moments that catch you by surprise and reel you right into the carnage that Celebrity Therapist plays hosts to. Be it brilliant vocal hooks like in the case of opener ‘Violent Astronomy’ and ‘Beautiful Dude Missile’ or moments of phenomenal instrumentation that slice through the melee of sonics, there’s a moment on every song that feels like a stunning cold slap to the face, shocking you with it’s absurd audacity. This all comes the moment of critical mass with the closer ‘Star Baby’. The final highlight that only solidifies this record’s undisputable brilliance, the apex of the song see’s the band forgoing the intense musical insanity in favour of a massive singalong jazz passage, with frequent contributor Rich Castillo leading the way with a stunning saxophone solo. It’s absurd and totally unpredictable, but it’s moment of triumphant joy that plays right into the record’s theme of organic spontaneity.
To return to the rollercoaster allegory from before, Celebrity Therapist is euphoric, exhilarating, sleek, breakneck and there’s no way you’ll be disembarking from this ride in the same way you boarded. This record is an accomplishment in every sense of the word, one that shows that genre is a dead notion and one is host to some of the instrumentation committed to tape. Many have said that The Callous Daoboys are ready to fill the void that The Dillinger Escape Plan left in their wake, but this record is set not just to passively occupy a void – it’s going to set the entire scene alight.