REVIEW: DK DANCE "Smells Like Riot" reviewed at BRUTALISM

"DK Dance do everything they can to stray from the norm and make their own sound, no matter how piercing it is."


For those who seek something out of the ordinary, look into DK Dance. This female fronted punk industrial band from France deliver hard, yet catchy tracks with their latest album 'Smells Like Riot.' Entirely in French for the most part, these femm fatales attack with vicious lyrics and guitars layered in dance in beats that would make Lady GaGa proud... even though the two bands are nothing alike. The album opens with "Un Trop Bis," which almost has a middle eastern feel to the way the instruments are played. Combined with the backing beats, it makes a great way to hook the audience before the punk influence comes in. "La Plafond..." relies more on rhythmic chugging guitars, raw in sound but not too much distortion. The vocals may take some getting used to because they sound like an angry teenage girl screaming obscure obscenities at the audience, but there is a few 'seasoned' roars in there too for fans to enjoy. The vocals aren't bad, per say, just unexpected.

Throughout the album, things tend to switch back and forth. Some tracks like "Nevrologie" and "Jogger Fuckrs" rely purely on an industrial setting full of electronic beats and drums that sounds like it came from a Combichrist album, and then there are the more punk/ metal tracks with a good mix up of industrial sounds such as "Debaptisez Moi." On tracks like these the guitars tend to stick to the same chugging formation; very simple. However, punk was made to be simple, raw, and offensive. Fortunately, DK Dance tend to skip the raw part and make the production pretty tolerable. Of course, with all those industrial influences it would have to be...

Overall the music is innovative and enjoyable to listen to if one is a fan of industrial metal bands that use screaming/ shouting vocals. It isn't any NIN but sure rocks like it. It's good to see more female fronted metal out there that isn't the typical gothic/ melodic death metal type, and DK Dance do everything they can to stray from the norm and make their own sound, no matter how piercing it is.

-Posted by devilmetal747