Celebrity Therapist seemed to come from nowhere. The second album from Atlanta, Georgia crew The Callous Daoboys, its mix of mathcore and madness absolutely floored us when it came out in 2022.
“When we went into the studio, our aim was to create something that we had never heard before,” explains vocalist Carson Pace. “We had an idea of how we were going to achieve that. Everything is very meticulously demoed, but we still did think, ‘Is this actually going to work?’”
The band’s first album, Die On Mars, had already marked them out as an exciting prospect in the Dillinger Escape Plan mould. “I feel like we were in this spot where we had this pretty derivative, but very good debut,” Carson says. “There was a bit of pressure with that, but my thought process was that the only way we were going to knock it out of the park was to go even more extreme, and even more out of the box. This was always what I heard in my head.”
Carson and co need not have worried, because Celebrity Therapist works. The manic, scabrous tech metal of their debut album remains, but it’s scattered in among all manner of other genres and stylistic flourishes. Pop, hip hop, breakbeats, Latin rhythms, funk, swing… you name it, Celebrity Therapist smooshes it all into one dizzying, maniacal musical trip.
“We aren’t a Dillinger Escape Plan clone, we aren’t an Every Time I Die clone, this is what our output is going to look like going forward, and if you think [we’re derivative], here’s a fucking piano ballad!” says Carson. “I was just asked what our influences are, and people assume it’ll be Dillinger or Botch, but it’s fucking Björk, Sigur Rós… Kendrick Lamar is a big one! I listen to that shit way more than I listen to heavy music. Heavy music just happens to be our jumping-off point.”
The record seemed to connect immediately, with reactions dominating metal Twitter on release day and beyond. “That was so cool,” Carson smiles. “I set my alarm to wake up early and see what people were saying. It was just mind-blowing. It felt so good that when it went away, I desperately wanted to find a way to get it back.”
As for the future, Carson is keen to play the UK. “I’ve seen our stats,” he nods. “London is the number one place in the world where people listen to us. Literally out of everywhere! So, we’re desperate to come over.”
And where will The Callous Daoboys take their music next? Best not to try and second guess them.
“Either you stay in this generic space, two-step-breakdown-two-step-breakdown, or you move away from it,” shrugs Carson. “As long as we give a fuck, I think we’re going to write great songs… and I really, really give a fuck!”
