Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machines

Dillinger Escape Plan
Miss Machines
Relapse Records
Grade: A-

It’s been about five years since New Jersey’s Dillinger Escape Plan unleashed their stunner Calculating Infinity on Relapse. With new and ripped singer Greg Puciato, Dillinger comes back to take the metalcore crown back with Miss Machines. For the past few years, Dillinger has focused on stealing the show as opener for a slaughtering of major bands, including System of a Down, and reorganizing their lineup. Original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis left the group in 2001 and the band held extensive auditions to find a replacement. In the meantime, Dillinger did an EP for Epitaph in 2002 entitled Irony is a Dead Scene with wildman Mike Patton that was enjoyed for its insanity. Puciato joined in 2002 and the band has been making headway playing live shows. This past year, they finally decided they had the precise combination of energy to record a new full-length. I remember first seeing Dillinger at a catering hall in Mineola, NY in 1998 or so; it was one of their first trips, if not the first, to LI for a show. Though they were metal to the core during their set, they ended with an awe-inspiring Slayer cover. That cover sealed the deal in terms of many in the audience then. Since that point, it has always been nice to see that Dillinger has ascended to such great heights. Particularly that they started as a small, nothing band and have pulled themselves up to being one of the most important metal bands of the time. The eleven-song Miss Machines features the same blistering, calculated chaos of Calculating Infinity with tighter compositions and musicianship and Puciato’s own voice, but keeping the essence of the sound. The record begins on “Panasonic Youth” with walls of stop-start guitars and Puciato’s screams. Naturally, this mild-mannered start soon leaps out to shifting sections with the amazing guitars of Ben Weinman and Brian Benoit leading the charge. “Sunshine the Werewolf” follows with same abandoned, but really interests with a relatively mellow breakdown that builds into sometime of distorted strings finale. “Highway Robbery” takes a more traditional path with a focus on speed hardcore and actually a catchy chorus. After the balls out “Van Damsel,” Dillinger takes a fucked up Nine Inch Nails path with “Phone Home.” Though “Phone Home” maybe a nice change for Dillinger, it is absolutely horrible and seemingly goes against much of what Dillinger is all about. They repeat this misstep on “Unretrofied” that sounds closer to Mr. Bungle, which is nice, and the beginning of “Crutch Field Tongs.” The rest of “Crutch Field Tongs” scrambles so many sounds, including a jazz-esque breakdown, that it makes up for some problems. The remaining tracks, “We Are the Storm,” “Baby’s First Coffin” and the closer “The Perfect Design,” are all classic Dillinger. There is little doubt that more and more people will get into Dillinger with the release of this new record; and rediscovery of Calculating Infinity. Don’t miss a chance to see these guys live as they are now awesome enough for Slayer to do covers of Dillinger.