Collapse - Dangerkids (Album Review)
Collapse is the debut album from the Dayton, Ohio based metalcore meets rap/rock band Dangerkids released September 17th, 2013 with Rise Records. The 5 piece band started in April of 2012, releasing their first ever single ‘Hostage’ on July 30th 2013, which is the first single released off of Collapse. The sound is reminiscent of older Linkin Park (think Meteora or Hybrid Theory) meshed with A Day to Remember. Their song ‘Light Escapes’ seemingly pays homage to the bands two main influences, Linkin Park and Innerparty. The opening track ‘Countdown’ brings you right in with blasting guitars and drums from Jake Bryant and Katie Cole (respectively), and Andy Bane’s scream of ‘let’s go!’ which leads right into quickly rapped lyrics by Tyler Smyth (and shout out to Jake Bonham on bass, it’s just really hard to write in bass player badassness, but we all know bass is important!). A majority of the songs on the album alternate between the rap lyrics and screams of Bane and Smyth. However, the fourth track ‘We are all in Danger’ shows more of the bands metalcore side, with an almost Of Mice & Men style; which would make sense as both bands are on Rise. The fourth and sixth tacks stay true to the group’s rock/rap sound. ‘Waking Up’ is heavier, much like ‘Danger’ with grinding guitars and drums and light on the electronic influence. ‘Unmade’ slows everything down; it could almost be called a modern ‘power ballad’ with slow verses, and strong electronic break downs after the chorus, much like how ballads were in the 80’s. In between is ‘Destroy Yourself’ which focuses less on the rap aspect ad changes things up slighly, which is brilliant. If bands have too many similar songs in a row, it almost becomes monotonous and everything blends together. That may flow well for two tracks, but any more than that isn’t a great idea. ‘Where the Sky Breaks’ is a 46 second strictly instrumental that leads into ‘Paper Thin’. If no other songs on this album make you think of Hybrid Theory era Linkin Park, this track will, there’s no doubt in my mind. For a second I forgot which band I was listening to and half expected Chester Bennington to hop on the track. ‘Fractions’ has more of the metalcore sound over the rap lyrics that are throughout the album. Also the orchestral backing track that can be heard if you listen closely is similar to that of ‘Where the Sky Breaks.’ ‘Fractions’ then goes to another short instrumental track ‘Dust’ which begins with an orchestral sound and ends with building electronics and guitars. This leads into the final track on the album ‘Cut me Out’ a strong finish to the album lyrically. The literal ending is a soft piano, which is a nice way to finish everything off.
Rating: 4.5/5 -Solid! The entire album blew my mind. Personally I was a fan of Linkin Park (pre-Transformers movies, that’s when they went downhill for me), and when I saw that’s who they were similar to I was half expecting it to be the new style. I was pleasantly surprised not only with the way Dangerkids combine both styles of music almost flawlessly, but along with the ‘normal’ instruments and electronics, they incorporate string instruments and piano-which will always hold a place in my heart being a former orchestra player. If you’re a fan of older Linkin Park, A Day to Remember, Of Mice & Men and other similar artists, this is an album you need to check out now! Check out the Dangerkids: http://www.wearedangerkids.com
