The Dillinger Escape Plan
"Ire Works"
Relapse Records
www.relapserecords.com



Dillinger Escape Plan is an immensely talented and interesting metal band. They are a mix of
violence and pillow talk, mixing screams and headringing thrash with sweet melodies and gorgeous words.
There sound is similar to a heavier, and more rhythmic, Mars Volta. They gained critical acclaim and
lots of fans with their previous releases “Calculating Infinity” and “Miss Machine” but “Ire Works” will
make critics and fans love them even more.

“Ire Works” is 13 tracks of distorted beauty. Blistering guitars and machine gun drumbeats are the
meat of this disc, some screaming/shouted lyrics and lullaby breakdowns round it out. It is a dynamic
album with great melodies and lyrics, headbanging breakdowns, mixed with eerie whispers and a
driving power throughout. No matter what direction the song goes the album never slows down,
never stops working your eardrums and your chest. “Ire Works” is harsh but intelligent, which is
hard to find, and it is not afraid to switch from full throttle to tip toes and back again; it is a
tough assignment sometimes, weaving together different approaches and layers to build a complex
tree of bigger, more impressive sound, but DEP does it flawlessly.

The disc takes off with “Fix Your Face” and the new DEP drummer Gil Sharone pounds out thick,
heavy beats on the drum kit. Ben Weinman, the last original member of DEP, mishmashes out
some power chords and sweet fingerplay on his guitar as Greg Puciato shouts out “You want a
vision you can’t have/A line that you can’t walk/ Writhing around on the floor / You won’t be
aware til it’s too late.” The engine keeps revving with “Lurch” but the band downshifts a bit on
“Black Bubblegum” – definitely the catchiest track on the disc – as Puciato does some actual
singing, there are some pretty, soft backing vocals, and a wonderful exploding, hook driven
refrain of “You’re made for four letter fame/Regret is part of your name/There’s something
you couldn’t tell/It’s what you wanted to feel/It’s what you’re dying to feel.”

“Black Bubblegum” pops out and then comes a short, errie, feedback driven, and slightly
schzophrenic, tune, which is about 1 minute a 50 seconds of instrumental, then 20 seconds
of lyrics, before leading into the completely instrumental jam “When Acting As A Particle”
which is accompanied one song later by the instrumental “When Acting As A Wave.”

After the second instrumental we reach the real meat of the album. The blistering thrashing
of “82588” showcases the full power of DEP, then “Milk Lizard” comes through with a
sweet kick and “Party Smasher” is a sugar-coated, smart headbanger that pummels your ear
drums before you reach “Dead as History” the most explorative and rambling tune on
“Ire Works.” It starts off slow, builds momentum, zigs, then zags and breaks off to end.

The final track of the disc “Mouth Of Ghosts” is the longest song on “Ire Works” – clocking
in at just under 7 minutes. It is a nice wrap up to the album, because it takes pieces of
the hate spewed in “Lurch,” pieces of the moonlight captured in “Dead as History” and bits
of sticky sweet guitar madness and killer bass in “Black Bubblegum” to produce a lovely outro.
Singing, mixed with screaming, lovely gentle hills of piano and drums mixed with firery pits
of guitar and heavy bass make “Mouth of Ghosts” a dynamic give and take; pretty, with
a little sleaze and a punch to the face, just like Dillinger Escape Plan.

This new album from Dillinger Escape Plan is their most accomplished yet and a wonderful
view of where music might be progressing to.

Reviewed by : Mike Hammer