“I’m gonna make you burn, burn, burn.”
Throughout metalcore’s lengthy tenure, the genre has set the stage for a number of trends that would see itself branch out in various artistic directions that expand well beyond tradition. And while many bands certainly continue to cling tightly to its foundational roots, very few of these ‘revivalcore’ acts occupy space within the mainstream. Instead, we owe it to bands such as Spiritbox, Bad Omens, and ERRA for their involvement in metalcore’s exponential rise to the top of the charts. And whether you love or hate the notion that the beloved genre has ventured this far from its humble grassroots and into the ears of casual, ignorant listeners who simply click ‘play’ on the first metal playlist they can find, it’s undeniable that the genre’s disposition remains healthier than ever, despite its many blunders along the way.
If you’ve scratched its surface with even the finest blade, you’ve likely come across Electric Callboy, a German electronicore act that’s notorious for their bold, brash, and zany take on metalcore. And while this sort of thing is not entirely new or groundbreaking, few artists can match Electric Callboy‘s tenacity in delivering a controlled chaos that merges metalcore and electronic dance music in a digestible way. While many of their electronicore neighbors favor one side or the other, Electric Callboy maintain a perfect ratio of dance and mosh at all times, vocally and instrumentally. If nothing else, they are consistent, and new record TANZNEID follows suit, for better or worse.
Of course, consistency breeds predictability, which is an issue that even the most beloved tenured bands run into after their creative wheels have spun out from under them. Electric Callboy are on album number seven now, and with each passing record, there is little to no innovation or general improvement from the last. In fact, TANZNEID is so similar to 2022’s Tekkno, they might as well be the same record. With Tekkno just breaching the thirty-minute mark and TANZNEID just shy of twenty-five, the combined length fails to even reach one hour.
That said, perhaps it’s for the best that TANZNEID is generously brief like its predecessor. It’s an utter chore to see it through from start to finish. The opening title track sets this precedent immediately with half-baked, flavorless, and bland vocal deliveries backed by the most sanitized and robotic metalcore instrumentation the genre has had the displeasure of hosting. The electronic elements are predictably and amateurishly arranged, only appearing during bridges or on the tail end of the track’s utterly derivative breakdown that feels like an AI-generated demonstration of the 2026 metalcore blueprint.
Things don’t improve among the body of the record. Cuts such as the obnoxiously titled “RATATATA” featuring none other than BABYMETAL (of course) exacerbate the album’s nonsensicalness without displaying any cleverness or proficiency in songwriting to add any accompanying substance. It’s simply the same irritating club rave song you’ve heard from mid-2000s .mp3 players with dull, overproduced metalcore instrumentation salted over. And before anyone can regurgitate the same tired argument of “they’re just having fun, and you’re not”, ‘fun’ is an element that has to be earned, and Electric Callboy once again show that they don’t have the know-how to make it work. Instead, they just sound like a modern metalcore parody act.
“Hypercharged” is marginally less offensive by comparison as it sticks largely to a basic formula of harsh vocals atop heavy, downtuned guitars in its second half, contrasted by the grueling overproduced pop slog of its accompanying initial half, presented almost like a reward for not immediately dying of cringe. “Let the Good Times Roll” features The Offspring, and it’s just as tacky and shoehorned a collaboration as you might’ve imagined. The song as a whole almost resembles The Offspring in a hopelessly ironic way. Maybe if you stripped away the hamfisted electronics, you might be left with a halfway decent rock song here. Alas, Electric Callboy must continue to live up to their name.
On a more positive note, “Heartclub” goes hard as fuck…. for about thirty seconds at a time. Pummeling and precise percussion and surprisingly ferocious screams save this one from being a complete disaster. Unfortunately, the track remains bogged down by the band’s commitment to delivering subpar and frankly irritating choruses. Even still, it’s not as ear-grating as the rest, and at least sports a somewhat unique vocal melody. Thus, “Heartclub” is without a doubt the album’s strongest offering. Metaphorically, I might describe it as garbage that doesn’t smell quite as bad as the garbage that came before.
“The Way You Are” feels like two songs mashed together without any real concern for sounding cohesive, which may have been the goal. Regardless, this is another one that might have been decent if it wasn’t for the milquetoast dance pop segments bookending the track, as the crux of the track features some decent heaviness that borders on deathcore, once again including some impressive harsh vocals and drumming in the mix. “Still Waiting” and “The Savior” are typical Electric Callboy cuts that ensure any sort of momentum that had been accrued by the previous two tracks is ground to a halt. “Revery” sees TANZNEID come full circle as the track is most similar to the album’s titular opener; a generic metalcore track decorated with intermittent electronics that do it little favors in the long run. There are some fully electronic remixes of prior tracks tacked on to the end of the record, as well, if that sort of thing interests you; however, I feel they aren’t worth talking about here.
TANZNEID, save for a few heavier moments where it flashes its fangs, is a largely predictable and dull affair that does little for the band’s career or the scene at large. Now at album seven and swiftly approaching two decades as a band, I fear it’s much too late for Electric Callboy to win me over. For longtime fans, however, you might find some pleasure here. Myself, I only found pain.
