Hey everybody - this is an album review I wrote for a particular online music site, which wasn't picked up. So I'll post it here for you to dig. It's an album I've spun quite a bit since the summer, but I'm still really diggin' it. However, if you're not a fan of heavy music, I don't think you'll like it.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
Every generation, there's a beacon light that shines through in a certain genre that turns eardrums inside out. In 1999, it was the Dillinger Escape Plan - who did it not only with their sheer aggression and volume, but also with their progressive take on hardcore music. Their breakthrough album, Calculating Infinity, was nothing less of a technical masterpiece - combining unconventional rhythms with profound and furious riffs - leaving a mark on the scene that's been unrivaled since. Until, of course, their follow-up.
Fewer new releases were more anticipated this year in hardcore/metal circles than Miss Machine. A savory audible stew of intensity, precision, and even (prepare for the collective gasp! from the hardcore kids) melody, this album is indeed a progressive step for a band that grew out of the limited bark-and-scream vocal offerings of conventional hardcore. Not to mislead the traditionalists - the light-speed chops and driving rolls are still there - but Miss Machine yields something that is musically more suitable to the almost jazz-like technical and mathematical roots of DEP.
This is due in large part to the contributions of new frontman Greg Puciato, who came on board in 2001 after the departure of original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. Puciato screams, barks, sings, and whispers through the album quite cohesively, at points channeling one Sir Mike Patton (who, in fact, sang on DEP's 2002 Irony is a Dead Scene EP). Purists needn't fret, however. It's still hard as fuck. But the vocal melodies and choruses on songs like "Sunshine the Werewolf" and "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants" make Miss Machine much more accessible to a wider audience.
Not to say that actual "singing" is what this band needs for credibility. But the sheer talent of guitarists Ben Weinman and Brian Benoit (Eddie Van Halen on a week-long tweak binge couldn't match their fury or accuracy), glued together by the water-tight rhythm of bassist Liam Wilson and drummer Chris Pennie can no longer go unnoticed. This band is metal perfection, as heard on the stop-and-start melee of the opening "Panasonic Youth" right through to the sweetly schizophrenic "Baby's First Coffin". What these masterminds needed was a more eclectic frontman; one who could adapt to and even challenge the band's complex takes on metal. And that's where Puciato fits in.
As the title suggests, Miss Machine is a more mechanic approach to what's become of contemporary hardcore and heavy metal. Although DEP has never been afraid to push beyond the boundaries of the genre they found themselves pigeonholed in early on, this album is officially their eruption from the fold. From now on, they draw the boundaries.
Posted by waub at October 7, 2004 11:52 PM