Dance Club Massacre was an American deathcore band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2004, the group originated as a simple recording project between founding members Nick Seger and Kurt Latos. After recording three songs described as "Halloween-core" and distributing them to friends, the project became a complete band when friends began rehearsals with one another all while attending college. Dance Club Massacre consisted of Nick Seger (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

), Jon Caruso (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), Chris Mrozek ( bass guitar), Mitch Hein ( guitar) and Matt Hynek ( keyboards). They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records, and its division,

Black Market Activities Black Market Activities (BMA) is an American independent record label that was founded in 2003 by Guy Kozowyk, the frontman of the Boston, Massachusetts-based extreme metal band the Red Chord. History Black Market Activities was started with ...

History

Dance Club Massacre originated in Lansing, Illinois in 2004 as a duo consisting of Nick Seger and Kurt Latos before acquiring the line-up of a full band consisting of friends, many of which were college students. The band recorded their first demo in early 2005 at Blam Recording in Chicago, which was just simply titled ''Demo'', with producer, Eric Butkus. The demo had seven tracks and 150 hand pressed copies were issued. These copies of the demo were sold at shows and through their Myspace profile. Shortly after the release of the demo, Matt Hynek took Kurt Latos' place as keyboardist. By April 2006, all copies of the demo were sold out, which then had Dance Club Massacre record their debut full-length album, ''

Feast of the Blood Monsters ''Feast of the Blood Monsters'' is the debut studio album by Dance Club Massacre. It was released on June 6, 2006. Release and information The band originally self-produced ''Feast of the Blood Monsters'' and released it onto Interpunk on June ...

'' with the same engineer that recorded their demo. Six of the seven tracks that were on the demo were re-recorded for the album. ''Feast of the Blood Monsters'' was self-released and 1,100 copies were made in real packaging, which were sold at local indie record stores, shows, and on Interpunk. The album has stayed in Interpunk's top 50 items ever since it was released. They then played at 2006's Warped Tour. After being noticed by

, they were signed to the label and their debut album was re-issued through Black Market and Metal Blade with heightened production and different cover art. During 2008, the band traveled to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

to record their second album, '' Circle of Death'' with Jason Randall at More Sound Studios. Since 2009, the band have been rather inactive, while their Facebook page is updated occasionally with pictures of the members grouped together in rehearsals, they still have not played a single show since 2009, but at the same time have not denied the possibility of a reunion.

Musical style, influences and concept

Dance Club Massacre generally have an

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

al style, which is ultimately influenced by many

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

musical groups. The band's influences include groups such as, Dimmu Borgir,

Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...

, An Albatross,

The Locust The Locust was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, known for their mix of grindcore aggression and new wave experimentation. The band has been noted for their use of insect costumes when performing live. History Prio ...

, Daughters, Converge, Horse the Band, Fantomas, Pig Destroyer and Between the Buried and Me. They even incorporate influence from indie rock musical styles. Their lyrical themes usually focus on subjects such as partying, girls, alcohol and enjoying life in general rather than the morbid or aggressive themes extreme metal bands traditionally employ. Genre-wise, the band have been said to include a vast variety of genres into their music including experimental metal,

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

, math rock,

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

, and thrash metal. However, they are primarily recognized as a deathcore band.

Band members

; Final lineup * Nick Seger – vocals (2004-2010) * Mitch Hein – guitars (2004-2010) * Matt Hynek – keyboards, synthesizer (2005-2010) * Chris Mrozek – bass (2004-2010) * Jon Caruso – drums (2004-2010) ; Former Memberøs * Kurt Latos – keyboards, synthesizer (2004) * James Poston – bass (2004-2005)

Timeline

Discography

; Studio albums * ''

'' (2006) * '' Circle of Death'' (2008) ; Demos * ''Demo'' (self-released, 2005)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control American deathcore musical groups American mathcore musical groups American avant-garde metal musical groups Black Market Activities artists Heavy metal musical groups from Illinois Math rock groups Metal Blade Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Chicago American musical quintets