Saying Goodbye Has Never Sounded This Good
It's phenomenal to think that in this day and age there sits a band who are prepared to bow out when they feel the time is right, despite being completely at the top of their game. The Dillinger Escape Plan caused anguished cries when they announced that Dissociation would be their final record and that they'd be calling it a day after the subsequent supporting tour. How could this be happening? They haven't missed a beat since they released their first album in 1999 and live? Don't even get us started on their live shows. Whether they're playing a show to five people or five thousand, there is no band on earth you can even come close to matching the maniacal intensity that comes with a DEP live show. So then we get to the final album, where does this stand in an already overwhelmingly impressive discography? Well to be honest it doesn't take too many listens of this to come to the conclusion that this actually sits on top of the pile.
The sheer array of sounds and styles spanning across this record in of itself is staggering. You'll go from being utterly obliterated in tracks like the opener Limerent Death which has a crunchy, heavy riff at it's deepest core allowing each member of the band to span off in to their own world in flashes of complete insanity and Surrogate which induces neck breaking levels of head banging with every single listen. Take those moments of chaos and slot them against some of the more genius, slower paced tunes like Symptom Of Terminal Illness which shows off their Faith No More influence to the max. Then there's FUGUE which can only be described as a piece of music which sounds like Nine Inch Nails infused with Drum N' Bass. Can you see what we're getting at here? Right when you think you know what to expect the band come round the corner absolutely swinging with twists and turns that continue to shock even after more than a handful of listens. It's an aspect which makes this album almost impossible not to listen to the whole way through every time. Yes there are stand out tracks and all that, but as a full body of work this is frankly astonishing.
Greg Puciato has one of the most distinctive voices in all of heavy music. His ability to reach down in to his soul and scream his heart out one minute to pushing it the other way completely has always forced this band in to the higher echelons. This album though, as well as quite possibly being the band's finest hour, is also the best vocal performance Greg has ever laid down on record - going back to the opening track, Limerent Death, as an example again he delivers with a level of intensity which actually trumps the chaotically brilliant music underneath him. Many have imitated and been influenced by him over the years but, not to sound like a group of lads doing football chants after a couple of shandys, there's only one Greg Puciato.
We could sit here lamenting over each member of the band individually on this album but it'd turn in to the never-ending review so we're not going to, but another huge shout out needs to go to the drumming performance from Billy Rymer. Since joining the band in 2009 he has always impressed but it's his orchestration of the bedlam on the kit which has allowed this album to sound as good as it does.
Overall then it is difficult to sum up quite how brilliant this album actually is. The Dillinger Escape Plan haven't always been to everyone's fancy, their eclectic style can be hard to get on with initially, but as far as we're concerned this is a masterpiece of an album which will be revelled and looked back on in many years to come. If this is the start of their swansong, what a way to exit. Please go and listen to this immediately.