Afterburner is Dance Gavin Dance's 9th record, and in the aftermath of Mothership and Artificial Selection, the standard has already hit an all-time high for the band. Despite that, they managed to deliver another solid record and slowly refining their sound even further.
When you look at their discography as a whole, Mothership to Afterburner feels like a trilogy of a similar sound, albeit in different flavours of intense chaos. Afterburner feels like the slightly more levelheaded sibling of the trio, featuring more cohesive tracks but not lacking in any wild bangers. I think the best way to put it is that they've introduced a bit more of modern post-hardcore influences while remaining mostly swancore.
It's as fun as the band has always been, whether it's Tilian singing in Spanish over a latin-infused Calentamiento Global, a subtle diss track on Born To Fail, a Secret Band-esque heavy banger Say Hi, Tilian screaming on Lyrics Lie while the guitars go crazy, or Jon Mess' lyrics on literally every track. They haven't lost any of their energy and have only improved in the catchiness department.
There are some real highlights on this record. One in a Million and Strawberry's Wake are some standouts of the band's entire career, and then there's also Nothing Shameful. What a beautiful work of art, no doubt with the help of Andrew Wells, finally as an official vocal feature too. Dance Gavin Dance doesn't do love songs that often, but Nothing Shameful hits a spot I don't really know how to describe.
Afterburner is a great record, but if I'm being honest, I don't come back to it as often as I do the others. It's a little dull in comparison to juggernauts like Mothership and Jackpot Juicer, but it still has a bright shine of its own. Nothing to hate about it, just another quality selection of songs served up by the five-piece swancore outfit.
Rating: 9/10