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Love it or hate it, we live in a heavily singles-dominated music market, one of easy stream, all-you-can-eat music buffets, short attention span, brief excitements, and constant boredom. Even though I generally dont like EPs and would always go for the traditional album cycle, I don't blame bands for adapting to the trends. Moreover, sometimes one concise and well-structured EP can stand much heavier than a rushed album, and Electric Callboy's MMXX is one of those rare examples when everything just fits in brilliantly.
Against the backdrop of the pure chaos of 2020, a wild Electric Callboy appeared out of nowhere and the entire fun-deprived online community under mass lockdown witnessed the absolute comedy masterpiece that is 'Hypa Hypa'. Many of us were there for it daily, and thanks to the reaction channels, it just blew off. For an entire month everything was 'Hypa Hypa'-related and suddenly the world opened their eyes to the beautiful bunch of German idiots that is Electric Callboy, in all their electroni-/metal-/rap-/idiot-core glory.
Every now and then someone like Electric Callboy comes along to break the unwritten rules of the brtual and angry metal world, and when done right, it is beautiful. Being able to shred guitars and destroy moshpits, while genuinely having fun and making people laugh is a rare talent, and one that is grossly undervalued. I am not a huge fan of gimmick bands or parody acts, but for a brief moment in an otherwise mad 2020, the world just laughed, bopped their hands and out of nowhere mohawks were a thing again.
With MMXX, Electric Callboy released a beautiful body of comedy-influenced, yet masterfully composed and produced bangers, and everyone that tuned it for it just forgot their troubles. There was no virus, no deaths, no isolation, no economic crisis, just neon lights, filthy electronic breakdowns and the best series of videos made in a long, long time. From the eurotrash madness of 'Hypa Hypa' and the pop-infused energy of 'Hate/Love', all the way to the textbook electronicore mayhem of 'Monseur Moustashe' and the long-awaited return of the legendary MC Thunder in the sequel 'Dancing Like A Ninja', the EP delivered 6 tracks of core mastery, blissful enjoyment, and virtual comradery.
MMXX is a milestone for many reasons, and deserves all the hype for the guys. On one side, it is a little unfortunate that this is already their seventh release and Electric Callboy never really got much bigger outside Germany and Central Europe as just another gimmick electronicore band not to be taken seriously. On the other side, it is never too late, and normally it is such moment of ingenious brilliance like 'Hypa Hypa' that have the potential to make a band huge, and this seems to be the case.
In a way, back in 2017 Electric Callboy laid the foundation with The Scene and 'MC Thunder' in particular, and followed with Rehab in 2019, but it is MMXX that is set to push them to the next level. And about time, because the band is just brilliant, all of the guys fantastic musicians and just super fun dudes, led by Kevin Ratajczak following the departure of Sebastian Biesler (now known in GHØSTKID) and the recruitment of new clean singer Nico Sallach who also had a huge part in making their sound a little more polished.
I am not going to lie, I am one of the people a bit late to the party. There are absolute gems in their previous albums and across the absolute madness you can hear pure metalcore, elements of deathcore, classic electronicore, straight EDM, nu metal unfluences, alternative rock tropes and what not, but above all, you hear a bunch of people just having fun! Really cannot wait to see where they go next but I espect more ridiculous singles, hopefully culminating in an album that will blow up and give them the stage they deserve.
Electric Callboy - 'MMXX'
Country: Germany
Released: 11 September 2020
Label: Century Media
Tracklisting:
1. "Hypa Hypa"
2. "Hate / Love"
3. "MC Thunder II (Dancing Like A Ninja)"
4. "Monsieur Moustache"
5. "Dramaqueen"
6. "Prism"
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