The Callous Daoboys close their sold-out UK tour at The Underworld, proving they truly are the “Best Band in the World”
The Callous Daoboys are on top of the world. 2025’s ‘I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven’ topped many of last year's album of the year lists and has propelled the already celebrated mathcore sextet into the stratosphere. On Saturday night they finished up their month-long tour with Knives with a sold-out show at the Underworld in Camden.
Opening proceedings was Leeds mathrock upstarts Love Rarely who have taken the UK scene by storm in their short time of existence. The incredible guitar work is enough to make any fellow guitar player throw away their instrument and frontperson Courtney Levitt bounds across the stage pulling off gold medal worthy vocal gymnastics. They’re set to play ARCTANGENT amongst many other festivals this summer and their debut record drops April 10th via Big Scary Monsters, definitely catch them if you can.
Knives are next, and after twenty days on the road with The Callous Daoboys, the Bristolian noise-punk outfit are more feral than ever. Opening with ‘The Dagger’, the menacing lead single from their recent album Glitter, frontman Jay Schotlander orchestrates the rabid crowd, who immediately descend into chaos. ‘Headcase’ sees guitarist Dan Farren dive into the crowd, screaming and stomping through the audience, with a few brave souls attempting to wrestle the microphone from him.
A brand new song is played next, showing an unusually restrained composition from Knives. An atmospheric saxophone melody takes centre stage before building and exploding into a massive, festival-ready outro built for audiences jumping up and down. If this is the direction album two is heading in, then I’m very excited for it. Knives round out their explosive set with a fan-favourite and timely cover of ‘Babooshka’ by Kate Bush, which sees the whole of The Underworld screaming along.
Arms are already swaying left and right to ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ by Elton John as The Callous Daoboys take to the stage and demand violence before tearing into opener ‘Full Moon Guidance’. The Callous Daoboys are truly a band who can do it all; ‘Two-Headed Trout’ and ‘Lemon’ see the whole of The Underworld singing along with Carson, before ‘Idiot Temptation Force’ devolves the once-peaceful crowd into bloodthirsty lunatics, with Ben from Knives joining the band on stage and then diving into the now rabid audience.
Brutally precise mathcore flies at you at supersonic speeds, which could make for a disorientating experience; however, The Callous Daoboys are masters of their craft. Fan favourite ‘Star Baby’ brings more stage dives and one mighty singalong before closer ‘The Demon of Unreality Limping Like A Dog’ rounds out the set and tour with one final, earth-shattering breakdown.
The Callous Daoboys have emphatically proven that they are the best at what they do. Few bands could pull it off and many wouldn’t be brave enough to try. Long live The Callous Daoboys, The Best Band in the World.