The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven – Album Review
- Jacob Yanosick
- May 24
- 3 min read
I’m late to the party—but I get it now.
It’s been a while since an album truly stood out to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been busy and stressed almost every day, without the time to really listen—or maybe I just hadn’t found something that resonated with the stage of life I’m in right now.
I’m not unfamiliar with the Daoboys; I’ve actually seen them live twice, playing the same show as Fall of Babylon (a now-defunct local Pittsburgh band I used to photograph). For some reason, though, their music didn’t click with me back then.
But during the release cycle for I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven, I decided to give them another shot. The single “Lemon” immediately stood out—a stark contrast to anything I’d heard from the Daoboys before. In the context of the album, it’s the most “poppy” and approachable track, and it was enough to make me feel that this album would be something special.
As I said, my personal life has been chaotic lately. So when the album dropped last Friday, I didn’t get the chance to listen right away. I did, however, pre-order the vinyl (the Moon Memory variant is absolutely beautiful), and when it arrived, I finally had a moment to spin it while working. That’s when I got hooked.
“Schizophrenia Legacy” kicks things off with chaotic riffs and harsh screams, layered with lustful clean vocals as Carson sings, “If I'm not a fool for you, I'm not a fool for anyone at all,” before diving back into the Daoboys’ signature frenzy.
The emo and punk influences are especially apparent in tracks like “Two-Headed Trout,” which leans heavily into pop-punk on the hook and showcases Carson’s fantastic clean vocals, and “Distracted by the Mona Lisa,” which takes me back to early-2000s emo in the vein of Pierce the Veil. But the album’s range goes much further. “Tears on Lambo Leather” breaks down into an auto-tuned DnB/jungle bridge—something I’ve never heard on a metal album. “Body Horror for Birds” continues the Daoboys’ genre-blending journey, venturing into a beautifully cinematic world (think James Bond theme), with Carson delivering a desperate refrain that echoes the album’s title:
"It's all comin' back to me now
Bends gave me some truth and it's hard to discount
How some people are nightmares together
But it's only felt when apart So I don't wanna see you in Heaven"
Even with these genre-bending moments, the album retains the Daoboys’ signature chaotic intensity. Tracks like “Idiot Temptation Force” explode with harsh screams and gang chants, while “Douchebag Safari” brings in more electronic elements—with a video game soundtrack-esque intro that crashes into a whirlwind of screams, guitars, and synths.
The album closes with “III. Country Song in Reverse,” a 12-minute epic that somehow ties together all of the album’s influences—metal, pop, emo, punk, alternative, electronic, and acoustic—in one ambitious and deeply satisfying finale.
What makes this album so impressive to me is how the Daoboys manage to craft such a cohesive vision out of a chaotic blend of genres. If you simply told someone all the different influences at play here, they’d think it couldn’t possibly work. But that’s exactly what makes I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven so compelling and relatable: the Daoboys have found meaning in the chaos, transforming conflict and confusion into something powerful—and unforgettable.
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