Normally as a reviewer I like to set myself a standard. I like to try to review things as unbiasedly as I can. Because when it comes to reviews, you have to be objective, not subjective. You cannot let your personal emotions and feelings dictate what it is you’re reviewing. For this review I’m going to toss that all aside, because The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza have released their final album Danza IIII: The Alpha - The Omega. I’ve been hyped for this album ever since the band dropped their first single You Won’t. But let’s get on with the review.
First let me say that the album is chaotic. Not chaotic in the sense of random sounds happening all over that don’t fit or match with each other. Chaotic meaning angry, heavy, intense, fast music. And the album spares no time and effort in showing you that chaotic sound, opening up with the song Behind Those Eyes, you already get a taste of Josh Travis’ irregular yet satisfying guitar work and Jessie Freeland’s “brutal” deep vocals, quite fitting as usual. The first five tracks on the album, Behind Those Eyes, You Won’t, Rudy X3, The Crossfire, and Hold The Line succeed each other perfectly. The transition between them all are amazing, musically and structurally they fit naturally together, but that’s not to say that the rest of the record doesn’t have equally amazing transitions to keep the flow going. Other songs like Death Eater and Canadian show off the album’s heaviness, while other songs still such as Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox give off a progressive metal sound to them, of course still combined with their well known experimental/math metal guitar work and sound.
I’d like to also mention that Jessie Freeland and Josh Travis were the only two on this album, Jessie on vocals and Josh Travis on all instrumentals. Their talent really shines through on this record. I’ve seen other people describe the album as more “listenable” or accessible this time around, and I would have to disagree with that belief. The album isn’t any more accessible than their previous ones. It still has that raw, unfiltered brutality that the previous ones had. The only difference this time is that the production level has increased, sound quality wise. Guitars have, not a better tone, but a different one. As compared to Danza III, they’re a bit less muddy and of a more modern quality this time around. The production on drums has clearly gotten better also. The kick drums compliment guitar work and sound tight, the snare sounds sharp, and the cymbals sound full, clearly working well with the other instruments. Now the presence of bass, I know is there, but it’s hard to hear. Something I’m sure I would hear better if I had a much more expensive set up, but for the average connoisseur of music, it’s not something that will stand out to you.
Ever since You Won’t was released in August, I’ve been anticipating this album immensely. That’s not to say it’s not without a few faults. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid for example is just an unnecessary filler. It doesn’t do anything for me, it doesn’t provide anything to the album other than taking up an unnecessary five minutes of time with random sound effects and what sounds like a guitar being “killswitched”. In a previous paragraph I mentioned that the transitions in the album were amazing. While this still being true, there were the occasional one that threw off my flow of the album. The previously mentioned Some Things are Better Left Unsaid, and also Hold The Line. It wasn’t a major offset either, just something that unexpectedly was thrown onto me before being remedied by the rest of the song. Though the filler at the end was something else I felt was somewhat unnecessary.
Overall, this album provides an amazing experience. A chaotic, heavy, beast of an album. I found myself wanting to gather a group of a friends who love metal, but this on a pair of 1000 watt speakers and just mosh along to it. Considering that The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza will not be making any more records after this one, this is one hell of a swan song to go out on. For fans of modern metal, intense vocals, and unorthodox guitar work, I fully recommend picking up this album when it drops later on this month. The band have proven once again that they definitely deserve their work being supported.
- Christian
