The Dillinger Escape Plan "Ire Works"


When the chaotic mess of Fix Your Face first entered my ears in February of this year, I expected more of the same from the rest of the Dillinger Escape Plan's 2007 full-length "Ire Works". And this would have been no bad thing either. The opening track provided all the awesome thrills and tempo changes that I expected to hear from the founders of "mathcore". This album was my first experience with the band, so you can imagine my surprise when the catchy pop song Black Bubblegum came on.

When the whole album was over and done with, all I could say was "what the hell was that?". I could barely remember anything I had heard in the forty minutes it took me to listen to the entire album. It was a huge mess of scream-laden structureless songs and pop hooks. And now that I've listened to this album many, many times, this verdict still holds true (in a more positive way). And after listening to all of The Dillinger Escape Plan's major releases, Ire Works seems a lot more special than it first did. They pretty much laid the groundwork for mathcore with Calculating Infinity, put a nice Mike Patton spin on it with Irony Is A Dead scene, took the Mike Patton influences and threw in many pop flavors with Miss Machine, and finally perfected it all with one big cohesive, monstrous album.

Many people might object to this comparison, but I see Ire Works as being The Dillinger Escape Plan's "London Calling" in that it's the band's finest album, it's incorporates many other elements while still maintaining the band's signature sound, and that there's never a bad moment on either album. Of course, being inaccessible to a large amount of music listeners, and incorporating too many pop elements for mathcore purists are things that hold the album down from being as highly regarded as London Calling.

But screw the purists. I have listened to other mathcore bands such as Botch and PsyOpus and all their music amounts to is stomach turning growl/feedback carnivals that rips off so much of Calculating Infinity it's not even funny. Not only do The Dillinger Escape Plan execute their mathcore in a tasteful, enjoyable way, but they also show much progression from their debut album, something so many other bands, mathcore or not, fail to do.

As a closing comment, I am going to go ahead and recommend "Ire Works" to just about everyone on this forum. I know most of you find this kind of music unbearable, inaccessible, or maybe you just plain can't take screaming. But even if you don't neccesarily enjoy it, most of you will be able to appreciate its merits, whether it be the eclectic mix of music, the complex, jazz-influenced instrumentation, Greg Puciato's freaking amazing voice, or the overall musical skill of the band. Just please do yourself a favor and listen to one of the greatest albums of our time.

96%
Masterpiece