The Dillinger Escape Plan
Ire Works

By Chris Pacifico

It’s not hard to see that metal is a direct descendant of classical music. One band that stands as the proof in the pudding is the Dillinger Escape Plan. Ire Works, itslong-awaited follow-up to 2004’s Miss Machine,is a ruckus-fueled and time signature-shifting tour de force. Critics have said metal’s moving in a more esoteric direction with bands like Isis, Meshuggah and Pelican delving into droning soundscapes and psychedelic jazz. DEP is on that same level as Ire features the most brutal sounding aspects of that breed and is technically complex in rhythmic skill. Pegged as math rock by some, DEP’s trademark flow of fractured free jazz progressions tossed into a blender of piercing guitar riffs and the chaotic vocals of singer Greg Puciato make it a band still untouched by the sounds of its contemporaries.

Original singer Dimitri Minakakis makes an appearance on the opener “Fix Your Face” with new skinsman Gil Sharone beating the sticks with machine gun precision. “Black Bubblegum” is almost funky and throughout the album there are moments where horns are buried beneath the pandemonium and the production. Now in its second decade, the group plays like the pack of ultra broody suburban New Jersey misfits that started it in the first place.