Mathcore with heart.
'Ire Works', like its predecessor 'Miss Machine' is heavy, awkward, jagged, huge in scope and yet very listenable, tuneful and very well put together. Dillinger aren’t known for being lads you’d like to take home to meet your parents; incidents like the crap in a bag at the Reading Festival have cemented their reputation as a band with an attitude to match their music, however this can sometimes overshadow their musicianship so forget the stories and just listen. The reason 'Ire Works' works so well as an album is because this lot are so good at what they do.
This is a record that’s complex and intense, starting with ‘Fix Your Face’, which is a blast of heavy noise with stop/start rhythms and a mid section of sleazy funk inspired bass; and then comes ‘Lurch’ which gets in your face with screams, growls, complicated rhythms and slick, fast, awkward riffs, you know this isn’t going to be an easy ride but this album isn’t just about blasting your head off with noise there is another side here.
Aside from the adventures into ambient madness, with the Aphex Twin-esque ‘Sick On Sunday’ and the instrumental, orchestral ‘When Acting As A Particle’ which sounds like the soundtrack to the spookiest film of the year, this new album is another step away from the mathcore heaviness of their earlier releases, even their second album 'Miss Machine', the first album to feature vocalist Greg Puciato (and the album that split their fans) wasn’t this tuneful. Here they mix up things even more, reinventing their sound and moving beyond math-metal to create tunes like ‘Black Bubblegum’ (weirdly reminiscent of Faith No More)which are basically, quirky, groove based rock tunes with a sleazy undertone, the thing is they do it so well it’s hard to begrudge them this change in direction.
'Ire Works' is undoubtedly a more accessible album than DEP fans may be used to, but don’t be fooled, by many band’s standards it’s still a more challenging listen than most releases this year. This new direction even seems like an entirely natural progression for them and it is definitely in no way less complex and interesting; it just brings in a more melodic angle which widens their scope even more, in fact, it feels like they have been leant a new purpose which will help them progress through further releases. This is a brilliant record.