February has been a real month for bonkers rock collaborations so far. Last week, electronic artist Illenium teamed up with Bring Me The Horizon for futuristic dubstep banger ‘Slave To The Rithm’, and yesterday US hardcore superstars Knocked Loose dropped their ferocious single ‘Hive Mind’ featuring rapper Denzel Curry. Today it’s the turn of Bedford alt-rock outfit Don Broco, who released ‘Nightmare Tripping’ this evening, guest-starring Canada’s divisive dad-rock legends Nickelback.
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Don Broco have played a diverse amalgamation of genres since their formation in 2008, starting with a basis of rock with huge pop choruses, and injecting it with metal, hardcore punk, and even a little disco. Fourth studio album 2021’s ‘Amazing Things’ brought epic ballad ‘One True Prince’ alongside heavier playful singles like ‘Manchester Super Reds No. 1 Fan’ and live show party-starter ‘Bruce Willis’. When they started releasing new music last year for their yet-unannounced fifth album, they had evolved their sound into a heavily polished take on early 2000’s nu metal à la Limp Bizkit, with tracks ‘Cellophane’ and ‘Hype Man’ adopting rap cadences for their verses and crushing down-tuned guitar sections.
Nickelback meanwhile have split opinion since first single ‘How You Remind Me’ took international music charts by storm in 2002, remaining hugely popular in spite of naysayers labeling them as annoying and overplayed. Through the last 20 years, singles like ‘Hero’, ‘Photograph’, and ‘Rockstar’ dominated mainstream and rock media coverage, turning the band into arena-rock goliaths. Beneath the surface of their accessible singles lies a back catalogue of heavier tracks however, with Nickelback being incredibly adept at writing anthemic hard rock jams that never made it to radio.
Neither band has revealed how the crossover came about, but Don Broco have been teasing a trail of breadcrumbs about its existence for the last few days. An initial post on Instagram showing their members with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger got fans imaginations going, before they revealed the single’s name on Tuesday. Yesterday they announced a premiere of ‘Nightmare Tripping’ for this evening, the 12th of February. In the post they listed the times for both band’s home nations – for Don Broco “BEDFORD 7:00 PM (GMT)” and for Nickelback “VANCOUVER 11:00 AM (PST)”.
Lead singer Rob Damiani went live on Instagram shortly before 7 to answer fan questions and detail some facts about the recording process of the track before its first playing. ‘Nightmare Tripping’ opens as a wall of sound, with crunchy metal riffs and thundering drums. Across the entire track are at least 4 sets of vocals, from Don Broco frontman Rob Damiani and drummer Matt Donnelly, as well as Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake. Hearing Kroeger’s distinctive voice on such an unusual track is a bizarre pleasure, but every element from the rumbling breakdown, to the electronic bass interludes and especially the softer section in the middle of the song add up to something exceptional.
During the live video, Damiani said there will be news on the album and its tracklist tomorrow, as well as announcements on live tours coming soon. Since completing their UK arena tour last Autumn, the only British date on their calendar is one at London’s Finsbury Park, supporting Scottish rock titans Biffy Clyro on the 3rd of July. Tickets are available here, with ‘Nightmare Tripping’ available now on Youtube and other streaming platforms.
