D.E.P.'s Miss Machine (review)

[mad rhetorik]

About two weeks ago I picked up the Dillinger Escape Plan's latest release, Miss Machine. Some members of the music press have described this album as a "kinder, gentler D.E.P." Others have even gone so far to call it a sellout on the level of Metallica's reviled Black Album. Say it ain't so!

Based on this, I took it upon myself to listen and compare Miss Machine with the band's brilliant previous full-length Calculating Infinity. After listening to both about five times back to back (and frying both eardrums and many brain cells in the process), I feel that I can finally give an accurate review.

First off, I'd imagine that the band had a helluva time thinking of ways to top Calculating Infinity. It still stands as the defining "noisecore" document, and nobody within the genre has been able to create anything like it (though Botch, The End, and Converge have come close). After five years Calculating Infinity is still extraordinarily complex and viciously heavy. It boggles my mind to this day that all of the compositions on this album are written down somewhere, and that the band can even replicate these on-a-dime time changes live without fail.

Miss Machine is more melodic. It seems that the reference point they were aiming for on this disc, composition and vocals-wise, was their own one-off EP with Mike Patton Irony Is A Dead Scene. As such, the devastating scorched-earth screams of Dimitri Minanikis (sp?) have been replaced by the multitalented pipes of Greg Pucito. Now, I've never heard of this guy before, but he's amazing. While he does pull off successful imitations of Patton (especially on some of the breakdowns), he mostly does his own thing. This guy can alternately sing a beautiful clean chorus, or scream like he's on the operating table without anesthesia. Wow.

Yep, there's definitely a pronounced Patton influence. One track, "Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants" sounds like a Mr. Bungle (or Faith No More, circa Angel Dust) track if you subtract the incredibly complex instrumental sections. There are other tracks that are a bit uncharacteristic of the old D.E.P., like "Phone Home" and "Unretrofied," which sound a bit like Nine Inch Nails, of all things--processed vocal lines and all (minus the overbearingly self-indulgent angst). "Highway Robbery" is a fairly stock metalcore track, if not for the syncopation and intricate timings. There's one weirdass instrumental titled "Crutch Field Tongs" that I don't enjoy very much (unlike the solid title track and "Weekend Sex Change" of Calculating Infinity). Fortunately it's short.

There's parts that seem to be in 4/4 on occasion, and even catchy choruses for the listener to latch onto (sometimes to the point of being redundant, like on "Unretrofied"). Still, even the most melodic songs on this album have a blitz of odd-timed insanity at some point, so it's still recognizably D.E.P. The opener "Panasonic Youth" and "We Are The Storm" show that they are still able to pull off something mind-boggling complex with ease. While there's no real standout bludgeoning like "4th Grade Dropout," there's nothing unacceptably watered-down or weak here (save the instrumental). It's simply D.E.P. trying new sounds, and largely succeeding. If you like extreme metal, I say dig in. 4.5 out of 5.

[DarrenH]

That was a very good review Mad man Rhetorik.

But you still haven't convinced me to buy into DEP. Opeth is at my very limit of metal in general. I'm not a fan of thier cookie monster vocals but I look past that and enjoy the music they play. They are very good at what they do.

I've heard, and for a brief moment I might add, some In Flames and Meshuggah. Wow, way too much for me. If DEP is anything like this, and I suspect it is, then I'm not diggin' it.

But hey, if DEP is floating your boat, more power to ya. Enjoy. I do like to read what people have to say about the music they like.

Darren

[mad rhetorik]

That was a very good review Mad man Rhetorik.

But you still haven't convinced me to buy into DEP. Opeth is at my very limit of metal in general. I'm not a fan of thier cookie monster vocals but I look past that and enjoy the music they play. They are very good at what they do.

I've heard, and for a brief moment I might add, some In Flames and Meshuggah. Wow, way too much for me. If DEP is anything like this, and I suspect it is, then I'm not diggin' it.

But hey, if DEP is floating your boat, more power to ya. Enjoy. I do like to read what people have to say about the music they like.

Yeah, a lot of music in this genre is definitely on the fringes, and not for everyone. A lot of people think that masochism is a prerequisite for this sort of thing. ; )

Meshuggah is another difficult band, mostly because they work outside the bounds of traditional melody. It's not atonal (usually), but not melodic in the conventional sense. It took me a long time to sort out what Meshuggah do, and the vocals and sheer...inhumanity of their sound took some adjustment.

Same deal with D.E.P. First time I listened to Calculating Infinity I was completely overwhelmed and not sure what to think. I'm still not close to figuring out what these guys are playing, but I have a better appreciation after I've sat down and listened to it enough. Not long ago I probably would've told you that D.E.P. is "noise," but now they're one of my favorite bands.

Now I consider In Flames to be fairly accessible, thanks to the great melodies I've found present in all their work (except the more recent stuff, which is nu-metallish and more Korn-esque "chug-chugga" which doesn't work for me at all). I actually had a harder time getting into Opeth--the long track lengths, shifting of dynamics (which they are absolute pros at), and (especially) Akerfeldt's growl took a while to grow on me. They're one of my favorite bands now too, so I guess this is a trend. Easily accessible music doesn't reward me as much as stuff I have to sit down, listen to, and take apart over and over again to "get." Of course there are exceptions to that as well....

All boils down to "YMMV," I suppose. It's good that you were willing to try something different.

[-Jar-]

thanks for the review.. it's definately on my wish list. I did hear one track on the radio, though I don't remember which one.. definately pummeling and intense. If anything it seemed a little more reckless than the music on INFINITY. But that was just from one listen in my van radio.

-jar
(you're going to kill me but I'm pretty sure the Bermuda Triangle which is my house has swallowed up that Meshugga cd.. I swear I need some kind of cd-locating device.. I do have that Bark Psychosis ready.. one small step for man, now for the post office..).