It’s not often that bands create their own genre, but Dance Gavin Dance did.
Welcome to swancore, a new genre of music named after the band’s guitarist, Will Swan. It’s a subgenre of post-hardcore and progressive rock that is known for Swan’s guitar riffs.
The newest album and 15th project, Pantheon, which was released Sept. 12, is a great introduction to the new era of Dance Gavin Dance. This fresh start comes after they decided to officially part ways with 10-year vocalist Tillian Pearson in 2023 after sexual abuse allegations were brought to light.
Pearson was the band’s third lead singer after Kurt Travis was let go because of differences with the band and founding vocalist Jonny Craig was fired due to his struggles with drug addiction.
Andrew Wells, vocalist and guitarist of another swancore band, Eidola, took the throne from Pearson and ran with it. Wells initially joined Dance Gavin Dance full-time as their rhythm guitarist in 2021.
Pantheon is the band’s first album in three years, and their first without Pearson. Wells’ vocal performance is extremely clean in this album, but it couldn’t have shined without Dance Gavin Dance’s harsh vocalist, Jon Mess.
The first song on the album, “Animal Surgery,” opens with a mysterious instrumental building up to the first verse. In the first verse, Mess comes in with his loud and aggressive energy, almost screaming into your soul. This energy is exactly what fans had been eagerly awaiting in the three years since the release of their previous album, Jackpot Juicer.
Wells opens up the pre-chorus melodically, with a crescendo that explodes into the chorus with passion reminiscent of Dance Gavin Dance’s older days. While Wells, in his groove, flies through the chorus with the drums setting the tone, Mess comes in screaming behind him.
The guitar and drums are loud and prominent in the song. Wells’ voice blends with Mess’ so beautifully, it gives the band that hard-rock feeling they’ve been missing. There couldn’t have been a better first song chosen to open up this new era.
Wells’ and Mess’ voices mesh perfectly on this album, contributing massively to the overall incredible sound. The contrast between Mess’ harsh voice and Pearson’s high-pitched voice was the reason that albums like Jackpot Juicer and Mothership did so well.
A perfect example is on “The Stickler,” where the vocals go back and forth between Wells and Mess. The combination of their voices gives the track a kind of life that hasn’t been seen from the band in a while.
In the second verse of “The Stickler,” guitarist Will Swan joins Wells and Mess. This is Swan’s first time being included on harsh vocals since the band’s 2009 album Happiness, where he was the harsh vocalist for its entirety while Mess took time off.
All three of them together electrify the song and easily make it one of the best on the album.
A big factor in Dance Gavin Dance’s sound is the evolution of Jon Mess’ harsh vocals. From their first project in 2006, to their newest, he’s shown how much he’s improved. Compared to older projects, Mess has worked on preserving his vocals. He isn’t as rough with his voice anymore, but he’s still able to deliver.
On Pantheon, although Wells performs amazingly, Mess is the life of each track and the reason you keep wanting to listen. The range in his voice is truly unique and leaves you wondering how he does it.
A great example is on the song “Conqueror Worm.” While Wells carries the song incredibly well throughout the chorus, Mess’s verse absolutely steals the show. Instead of his normal screaming voice, you get these funky, gritty kind of vocals. The effect throws you off at first but pulls you in as it keeps going.
Pantheon also excels instrumentally. You can tell the band put their heart into this album. Each instrument is electric in every song. Along with Matt Mingus on the drums, every member in Dance Gavin Dance excels.
Regarded as one of the greatest guitarists ever, Will Swan exemplifies his prowess on this album with “Space Cow Initiation Ritual.” This track features “the godfather of funk,” George Clinton, and is perhaps the band’s funkiest song yet.
Even in unfamiliar territory stylistically, each member is still able to shine in their roles. The guitar riffs on this song are different than on past albums but are still able to showcase Swan wonderfully.
Without a doubt, the best part of Pantheon is the final song, “Descend to Chaos.” This song perfectly exemplifies who they are: a hard rock band that never feared changing up their sound.
The dark guitar riffs along with the hard-beating drums in the background make for an addicting instrumental. The beat switch in the second verse is one of the highlights of the album, and one that everyone should listen to.
It moves away from the pop-sounding songs they’ve had before and sounds like a whole new band, hopefully foreshadowing a similar sound in future projects.
The podcast The Break Down with Nath & Johnny interviewed Wells, who excitingly shared a glimpse into the band’s future.
“There’s new music coming. We already started writing the new album,” he stated, hinting at a potential release next year.
In a short video clip of a Las Vegas show on June 21, Wells tells the crowd, “We got a lot of new music coming your way. We got Tree City 3 coming in the fall.”
Tree City Sessions is a live recorded album filled with different songs from different eras of the band. It will be the first with Wells at the head.
Despite controversy and serious shake-ups throughout their history, the band continues to evolve. With millions of devoted fans and 15 projects released within their 20-year existence, Dance Gavin Dance doesn’t plan on going anywhere, and Pantheon proves that.
Velocity 
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