by Maddy Howell
There’s never been a band quite like Dance Gavin Dance. For nearly two decades, the Sacramento chaos merchants have twisted post-hardcore into their own technicolour beast - throwing funk, prog, metal, pop and mathy wizardry into a blender and somehow making it sing.
Building up a reputation in the scene not just for their sonic shapeshifting but also for enduring various configurations, they have long survived on sheer creative force. But with new album Pantheon, they’ve done more than survive - they’ve entirely redefined what their band is.
Coming out of a storm of grief, change, and recalibration, Pantheon is both a battle cry and a victory lap. Their first full-length release since the tragic passing of longtime bassist Tim Feerick in 2022, it introduces former rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells as their lead clean vocalist, following Tilian Pearson’s departure in 2024. For Wells - who had been touring with the band since 2015 before being promoted to official member status in 2021 - stepping into the frontman role was a welcome challenge.
“The discourse around vocalists has been part of this band’s legacy forever. People are going to argue no matter what, so all you can do is what DGD has been great at for 20 years - make kick-ass music,” he shrugs.
“When the guys asked me to do it… Honestly, it's been a dream of mine since I was in high school. I love these guys, they’re my brothers. We've been to hell and back many times, and it's been such an honour to have the opportunity to fill this role.”
Having already established a healthy working relationship; the newly united four-piece are stepping into an era free from egos or outside complications. Focused simply on rediscovering the heartbeat of their band, their opening gambit comes in the form of Pantheon.
A record that doesn’t ease you in or offer any warnings, opener ‘Animal Surgery’ busts down the door, leaving you to fix the damage as it kicks playfully at the debris. The onslaught continued with the roaring frenzied singalongs of ‘Midnight At McGuffy’s’, the whiplash-inducing genre-splicing mayhem of ‘The Conqueror Worm’, and the absurdist funk swagger of ‘Space Cow Initiation Ritual’ - this is Dance Gavin Dance at full tilt. Messy, theatrical, brutally technical, and emotionally raw - often all within a single track - it’s a record of beautiful, beautiful chaos.
“Something that DGD has prided itself on, and something I've been super grateful to be part of for the last 10 years, is that these guys are the most hard-working musicians I've ever met. It's a constant grind,” Wells nods.
“Pantheon is the most collaborative DGD album ever. Jon [Mess, co-vocalist], Will [Swan, guitarist] and I wrote all the vocals in the back of the bus whilst we were on the Falling In Reverse tour. We just passed a mic around us, and there were times where Matt [Mingus, drums] would come in and throw an idea down too.”
“Over the last few years, we fell into this poppy ABAB structure. We made some great songs whilst doing that, but something got lost along the way,” Mingus adds.
“We lost that progressive sound of the first few albums, where we were more experimental and doing some weirder, heavier stuff. We wanted to focus on that with this new batch of songs. At the same time though, we stressed to Andrew that we didn’t want him to try and do what any of our former singers had done. It was a case of, ‘Just be yourself, we know you're going to kill it’. This record is a beautiful example of him doing his own thing, and it works. It was magic.”
Their most collaborative, creative and connected record to date, Pantheon is also their darkest. Coming at a fractured time in humankind’s history, despite its outrageous, surrealist moments, at its core it’s an album that wrestles with existential dread. Spiraling through doom, reckoning and ultimately basking in finality, it gets bleak as hell here.
Take for example the spiraling ‘All The Way Down’, a track that explores just how far down the rabbit hole goes. Given the working title of ‘Dark Web’ during the writing process, it’s just one snapshot of the ways in which Dance Gavin Dance are grappling with the world’s madness.
“As a band we discuss everything from philosophy to history and current events,” Wells says.
“Looking at the world and the state that it's in, it's pretty inarguable that it’s a chaotic time. With information, media and AI, it can be overwhelming. We wanted to channel that into a narrative piece that was cohesive, arguably for the first time in the band's history. There are tracks on this album where both singers are singing about the same topic in the same song, which is largely unheard of for us.”
“It's definitely a dark record, especially with how it ends,” he continues.
“The tone we close things on is essentially, ‘It's the end of the world, and in the end, we die’. I like that potency, especially with the hopefulness that's sprinkled elsewhere on the songs. It poses a question to the listener: If that's the conclusion, what's next for the band? What's next for art? What's next for humanity?”
Building like a ticking bomb, the detonation of Pantheon never arrives, leaving you holding the weight of it all as the climax of closer ‘Descend To Chaos’ sounds out. Asking questions that evoke anxiety and feverish excitement in equal measure, it’s an almighty statement of intent to open their latest chapter.
Celebrating their twentieth anniversary as a band this year, there are plenty of words you can accurately use to describe Dance Gavin Dance. Innovative, experimental, daring, bold… But in 2025 there's one that feels more pertinent than all of the others - grateful.
Having navigated the rockiest of roads together, sharing in their grief, anger, frustration, and joy, as they stand in their most formidable form to date, gratitude is at the very forefront of their minds. Clarity and unity radiating throughout Pantheon, whilst Dance Gavin Dance may be embracing the chaos of life, one thing’s for sure - they refuse to be broken by it.
“I can't believe that we still get to do this. We’ve had so many line-up changes, a band member died, and we have been through so much,” Mingus reflects.
“I was 16 years old when we started this band, so I've been a part of it longer than I haven't. There have been moments where we thought it wouldn’t work, but we took the risks, took the chances, and persevered. Without everything that has happened, I don't think this record would exist.”
“We get shunned by the music industry for not fitting into this bubble, but we keep trying. We made our own thing, and it's gotten to a point where people cannot deny that what we're doing works,” the drummer finishes.
“Now, the vibe between the band is so freaking powerful. It's the most unified we’ve ever been, and we're focused on being our best selves. Everybody's healthy, everybody's happy, and it's so much fun. We’re so excited for the future.”
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Dance Gavin Dance are currently trekking on their headlining Return Of The Robot Tour. The run features supporting sets from The Home Team, Belmont, and Dwellings. See a complete list of remaining dates below. Get tickets - HERE
Pantheon, the 11th album from Dance Gavin Dance lands September 12th via Rise Records. Get the album - HERE

DANCE GAVIN DANCE TOUR DATES
6/17 - San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Event Center **VERY LOW TIX
6/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Revel
6/20 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren **SOLD OUT
6/21 - Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
6/23 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
6/24 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
6/25 - Boise, ID @ Revolution Center
6/27 - Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live **VERY LOW TIX
6/28 - Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium **SOLD OUT
6/29 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA