Show Review: Electric Callboy’s Tour Ends at a Killer Show in Boston.
written and photographed by hunter astrid b.
more photos + rest of the gallery can be found here.
May 19th was an important milestone date for me — my college graduation. So what better way than dragging three of my best friends to an Electric Callboy concert to celebrate? I can’t think of a better grad-party….can you?
If Not For Me -
If Not For Me is a metalcore band from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that consists of vocalist Patrick Glover, guitarist Hayden Calhoun, bassist Zac Allen and drummer Cody Frain. While combining aspects of melodic rock, pop and post-hardcore, the group takes influences from abnds like Bring Me The Horizon, August Burns Red, Killswitch Engage and the like. The band is known for their heigh-energy performances, catchy choruses and driving riffs. They have released two studio albums since their conception; Eulogy in 2022 and Everything You Wanted in 2024. They have also released singles “Milwaukee” and “Capture the Current” in 2018 as well as “My Own Way” in 2019.
Their set was a perfect way to start the night - their performance was filled with high energy and heavy-hitting riffs, layered with Glover’s clean and elegant vocals on top. I always enjoy artists who have intense riffs and drums that are matched with a singer that has an almost angelic voice, a very next juxtaposition that sits well in one’s ears. They easily helped set the tone and energy for the night, preparing the audience for a killer night ahead.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “No Thanks To You” off of Eulogy (2022)
Bury Tomorrow -
The second band was a group of guys who made the trip from across the pond; Bury Tomorrow. Forming in 2006, Bury Tomorrow is a British metal core band that formed in Southampton, Hampshire, England. The group currently consists of unclean vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates, bassist Davyd Winter-Bates, drummer Adam Jackson, lead guitarist Kristan Dawson, rhythm guitarist Ed Hartwell, and keyboardist and clean vocalist Tom Prendergast. Since 2009 they have released seven studio albums. The title track “Portraits” off of their 2009 album is based on the story of Dorian Gray by Oscare Wild, a ‘cautionary tale of the beauty and frailty of life.’ According to Adam Jackson the album is a “memory in musical form, the first glimpse of the picture that is Bury Tomorrow.” Their most recent release was The Seventh Sun in 2023.
The group has citied older metalcore bands as their main influence including bands As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage. Their sound is a combination of the subgenres of metalcore, melodic metalcore and post-hardcore. Like the original Crown The Empire line up, Bury Tomorrow has two different vocalists; one with the melodic singing, usually for the chorus of songs, and one with harsh screaming and growling throughout the verses. Their breakdowns and beats give a brooding and moody feeling, sometimes leaning on the heavier side of most typical metalcore groups.
When I say I was blown away by their performance, that would be an understatement. Daniel Winter-Bates’ vocals genuinely blew me away, his growling clean and sharp and coherent. Sometimes unclean vocalists get lost in the heavy riffs and it’s hard to understand the intent of the vocals as the words blend in with the music. This is definitely not the case with Bury Tomorrow; his vocals are strong and powerful, matching perfectly with the rest of their sound. Their riffs and drum beats were clean and perfectly synchronized, showcasing how long they have been playing together and how comfortable they are with each other. I had never actually listened to this group before, but I most definitely walked away as a fan.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Man on Fire” off of Runes (2014)
Electric Callboy -
Formly Eskimo Callboy, Electric Callboy is an electronicore band that formed in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany in 2010. The band currently consists of vocalist Kevin Ratajczak, vocalist Nico Sallach, guitarist Daniel “Danskimo” Haniß, guitarist Pascal Schillo, bassist Daniel Klossek, and drummer David-Karl Fredrich. The band calls their music “Porno Metal” and uses cliches in a satirical way for their lyrics. A handful of their songs are in their original tongue (German) while most of their songs are all in English. It’s hard to put their music in one specific genre but can be categorized under electronicore, comedy rock, electro, EDM, metalcore and more. They cite bands like Asking Alexandria and Attack Attack! as some of their biggest influences. German Metal Hammer magazine once said: “This is why Eskimo (Electric) Callboy is enjoyable: because they dismiss themselves and let the fun rule.”
In December of 2021, the group announced that they wanted to remove a handful of their old songs due to lyrics that have “become more increasingly problematic in modern times,” adapting to the world that is ever changing. A few months later they switched their name officially to Electric Callboy due to the fact that Eskimo can be seen as a derogatory name for Inuit Yupik people of the Arctic, which none of the band members are. They wanted to make changes and be more respectful since the early 2010s tended to have a very (now seen as) problematic sense of humor.
The group has released two EPs, Eskimo Callboy in 2010 and MMXX in 2020 respectively, and six studio length albums, Tekkno being their latest release in September of 2022.
I first stumbled upon this group when I made my first trip traveling alone out of the country and to the UK. I went to England in June of 2022 and attended the Sunday date of Slamdunk Fest, mainly going to see The Story So Far and Neck Deep. With time to kill I decided to watch their set and was immediately drawn in. They were combining two genres of music that I religiously listen to separately, EDM and metalcore, and made a beautiful and flawless mixture of it. The humor behind their music and the playfulness seen on stage really just stresses how much this group enjoys what they’re doing. Their set in Boston was genuinely electric (no pn intended) and extremely high energy the whole time. They performed their cover of "Everytime We Touch” by Cascada and added their own twist to it with heavy-hitting riffs and vocals, as well as keeping original electronic synths throughout. They did another cover, a mashup actually, of two songs that I would not think a band like them would cover, let alone as a mashup, but it was extremely successful and wonderful to experience. Those two songs were “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen and “I Want It That Way” by The Backstreet Boys.
They ended their set with their most well known and highest energy song, “We Got the Moves” off of Tekkno. The entire band all reentered the stage wearing costumes from the music video — brown haired bowl-cut wigs accompanied by white puffer vests. When the song went into its iconic breakdown the entire venue broken into chaos, members of the other bands as well as crew members joining the band to finish off the show. A perfect ending to their North American tour.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Arrow Of Love” off of Tekkno (2022)
