Album Review: Band makes “escape” from convention
If metal and jazz had an affair, The Dillinger Escape Plan would be their renegade illegitimate child.
With all its free-form guitar solos and intricate beats, the band’s latest release “Ire Works” has all the chaotic components of previous albums with new electronic sounds thrown in.
The band’s music is more like traditional composition as opposed to mere songs following a verse-chorus-verse-chorus pattern. The compositions are intentionally lopsided and hesitant. It’s not unlike Miles Davis’ music for musicians. The feel of the music changes frequently and abruptly, and would be difficult for the best of musicians to keep up with.
Vocalist Greg Puciato’s screams take a backseat. His lyrics act like a percussive instrument, adding texture to the mix rather than taking the spotlight. The band isn’t another crew of flawless faces singing lyrics to the emotionally-torn teenager. Dillinger Escape Plan is an example of real musical innovation.
“Ire Works” plays in post-production as well. Songs like “Fix Your Face” incrementally increase in volume like a digitally-rendered crescendo. Other tempo changes are artificially added by replicating the sound of a scratched CD, like in “When Acting as a Particle.” Even sounds replicating a cell phone signal have become part of the instrumentation.
Guitarist Ben Weinman’s improvised guitar solos, like in “Party Smasher,” link the band to jazz-style inspirations. Flitting rhythms and swelling arpeggios fill in the space between odd tempos. Due to the band’s ability to escape the confines of a solid form, compositions on the album range greatly in length. From songs barely over one minute to almost seven minutes, it is impossible to anticipate anything at first listen.
The Dillinger Escape Plan
“Ire Works”
Release Date: Nov. 5
Grade: B
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on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment.
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