Although
Death Before Disco's name smacks of the late '70s (when fans of hard rock were often spotted wearing shirts or sporting bumper stickers displaying the aforementioned phrase), the Belgian group is unmistakably an early 21st century heavy metal outfit. And while they contain sonic elements of your average band spotted on Fuse, they also have quite a few surprises up their sleeve as well, as evidenced by their 2006 release
Barricades. For instance, the album opening "Etireno" starts off like your average modern day heavy act (as exemplified by singer Ioan Kaes' emo-tinged, melodic vocals), before it takes an unexpected detour into prog territory. "Barricades of Rumble" follows the same "keep the listeners on their toes" guideline, as evidenced by the middle section where, from seemingly out of nowhere, the group takes a jazzy detour. But
Death Before Disco isn't all about metal -- "Jaguar" bypasses the heavy riffing in favor of
Incubus-esque chord voicings at the beginning, before drummer Ace Zec shows off his dexterity talents by giving a clinic on how to drum off-time.
Death Before Disco should have no problem winning over fans of the prog metal regime (headed by the likes of
the Mars Volta and
Coheed & Cambria). ~ Greg Prato