Album Review: Collapse by Dangerkids

Bleeding-edge relevant, and a nostalgia trip all in one... Whether in the swagger of Attila, the bounce of Of Mice & Men or the constant homage paid to the likes of Limp Bizkit, nu metal is swinging back into view. Enter Ohio’s DANGERKIDS, who are providing the link(in park) between ’98 and now with this debut, featuring Andy Bane’s Mike Shinoda-jocking rapping and some skyscraping choruses, as on ‘Hostage’ and the titanic ‘Waking Up’.

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A band that isn't so much trying to re-create the sound of Linkin Park as update it, Dangerkids blend EDM with heavy post-hardcore on their debut album, Collapse. While rap-rock is a sound that's prone to disaster, the band has the confidence to make it work, finding just the right blend of angst and swagger to pull the whole thing off. When combined with Collapse's intricate production, Dangerkids prove to be worthy successors to Linkin Park, taking a lesson from the rap-rock stalwarts while still being influenced by more contemporary styles.

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It’s hard to think that, around a decade ago, rock was dominated by the sounds of nu-metal and artists like Linkin Park were taking the rock world by storm. Whilst the UK was in full-on Coldplay adoration mode, the US was going nuts for distorted chords, drums that sounded like thunder and lyrics you could shout from the rooftops. Dangerkids, a quintet from Ohio, clearly remember that era fondly.

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If songs that start with an emo white guy proclaiming “yo” before zipping into hip-hop rhymes sounds like a good time, and if you have a weak spot for classic Linkin Park, Dangerkids are probably going to be your new favorite band. As gimmicky as it sounds to be doing the Linkin Park thing in 2013, Dangerkids mastermind Tyler Smyth has admitted that he’s unabashedly influenced by one of rap-rock’s most recognizable names. This isn’t all copycats and homage, though; Dangerkids mix modern elements of electronica and metalcore into rap-rock, which at first seems a bit disjointed and weird, but soon settles into a comfortable roar that hits all the sweet spots in the metal/hardcore/emo realm.

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As far as I can tell, Dangerkids is a Screamo from Dayton, OH whose musical knowledge includes Linkin Park, The Used and… nope, that’s pretty much it. Nu-Metal rapped vocals, punctuated by throat shredding screams and a tendency to pepper the lyrics with the band name over and over – like The Crips or The Backstreet Boys – this debut from Dangerkids is ambitious only in the fact that there is so much wrong with this record. I’m impressed that the band would decide to self-produce this, their first album, but from the piano intros on “Light Escapes” and “Cut Me Out” before an explosion of loud guitars, to the Nine Inch Nail-lifted synth lines in just about every other track, it appears as if there was no idea too clichéd and played out to throw into this record.

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