That's right 10 Years On... is back, and what better way to kick things off again than with the mental, spectacular and heavy Dillinger Escape Plan. Ten years ago this month, DEP released their second full length album, Miss Machine via Relapse Records, and was the first to feature vocalist Greg Puciato. Prior to the release of this record, the last full length the band had done was way back in 1999, instead opting to release EP's in the interim period. These EP's though proved to be vital in the development of the band, even if they did lose their original lead singer, because it allowed them to experiment and really shape and mould a sound which sounded pretty unique at the time.
The band had worked with a host of different musicians and producers between Calculating Infinity and Miss Machine one of which was the phenomenal Mike Patton. Patton's influence rubbed off on the band quite clearly on Miss Machine and until they released the equally stunning Ire Works three years later this was by far the most experimental DEP had sounded. The chaos of their mathcore intricacies were all here of course in abundance, but there were softer moments, and some real jazz driven sections making this an album which with every new listen you'll hear something new, even now ten years on. Greg Puciato added this savage level of intensity, considering he started out as a fan of the band and was only able to jump on board when sending in a tape when the vacancy came up, right from the off when Panasonic Youth kicks in it just felt like he was born to front this band. Puciato had come off the back off being part of a much more Industrial influenced kind of Hardcore band, which is again something that was brought into the foreground throughout Miss Machine. So in many ways this was a band coming of age. Yes they had released material prior, and had started building up a reputation but 2004 and Miss Machine triggered a period in which Dillinger Escape Plan became one of the truly dominant forces in heavy music.
Miss Machine, just doesn't sound like an album which has aged - this could be a piece of music DEP released today and it would still feel relevant. 2004 was a strong year for albums in Metal and Heavy Rock, and the midst of the start of an era which broke away from the huge influx of Nu-Metal in the years immediately preceding it, sounding leap and bounds ahead of so much released at the time. It was heavy, erratic, jazzy and absolutely bonkers - everything Dillinger Escape Plan epitomise up to the present day.
