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People that don’t like metal consider it basically noise, that is not true but have you ever asked yourself the pinnacle of noise? Worked it out yet? No? The Dillinger Escape Plan of course. The music is noise, it really is but not in a bad way. The technicality of the band is incredible and it’s up for nomination as one of the best grind or grindcore or mathcore albums ever. It’s short, it comes in at 37:41 minutes and with only eleven tracks. If you like grind, this is the essential album and it is the perfect ploy for putting off the casual listener. It’s really hard to get into though, you really have to listen hard to find what is so perfect about it. It took a few weeks for me to accept it as music. I’m glad I finally got into it though as it is quite good and delivers when I’m hyper or I need something really heavy. I have to say that I enjoy Miss Machine better though (most fans said that that album was when they lost their roots) I felt that sometimes this album gets a little too chaotic.
In the start, The DEP was signed to Relapse records when staff from the label went to one of their concerts and suddenly ended up with a multi-record deal and they released the EP Under The Running Board. The hype was around when they released the EP and that led the anticipation of Calculating Infinity. Before Calculating Infinity came to life, bassist Adam Doll had a car crash and now was paralyzed chest down. He recovered from the accident but he bent down to pick up a CD, he had a small fracture in his spine and that’s where the paralysis came into place. Brian Benoit asked to try out for the band and the band drew attention to Mike Patton who asked them to tour with Mr. Bungle. In 2001, Greg Puciato took over for vocals. Ironically (ignore the pun), the DEP brought out an EP called Irony Is A Dead Scene just months prior Greg’s new position and it featured Mike Patton on vocals. The band continued with Greg and they released the more hardcore album Miss Machine, they toured throughout 2005 for the album and are currently recording a new album.
The instruments are a major strong point, the guitarist Ben knows his stuff, though not hard, you really need speed and stamina to play the guitar parts. The songs wouldn’t work without Ben as the songs are usually “ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR” *Jazzy interlude by Ben* Sometimes it’s incredible how chaotic and heavy the guitar can be since he mostly plays in standard. Brian Benoit keeps the standard for Ben when he’s doing the interlude. A guitar duo that work well together. The vocals are the thing that puts most people off, it’s crazy. The screaming is intense and hard and I don’t think I’ve encountered a clear melodic voice with this singer in the band. The drumming is amazing. It’s really fast and technical and again the music would not work without the drums. I know that most wouldn’t work without the drums as it is the backbone and keeps the music from going out of time and it starts to feel noise but in the case of this band, the drums are an absolute essential and the drums are frantic but they fit in with the chaotic music. The bass would be essential in this type of music since the band wants a hard heavy sound. The bass needs to be there to give it the heaviness that the band does.
I’ll start off with the first two songs which is silly because they put the two best songs at the start. “Sugar Coated Sour” is a crazy offering that can hurt the ears. Ben’s jazz influence shines in this song. The song is crazy for the first part until the direction moves into a slower pace but it’s not that long till it starts up again. It’s sometimes really hard to describe songs that really hit you but it is a hard thing to describe. One thing I could say was that it was straight-forward with no absolute change in the music, I could also say that it is a strong, tense build-up to start the album but the best description? Total Madness. Clocking in at 2:24, this is one of the best openers I have ever seen. Next on the track-list would be “43% Burnt”, the song is important since it got me into the band. The second song here starts up with a heavy intro while it’s not first for the first section, it then goes into chaos with this creepy yet intriguing interlude. The song does not vary much like the last track with it being no change of direction and sometimes I can’t tell the difference but if it’s that good then it doesn’t really matter. It has more longevity as it is 4:31 but the outro is ridiculously long, it can sometimes add atmosphere to the song after the long crazy part but sometimes it doesn’t work for me.
I sometimes found it hard to look for changes and twists in the songs but the song that surprised me is the short “Destro’s Secret” which starts up as your typical DEP song with it pounding your brains out and never slowing down until it builds-up to bring it all down with some amazing drumming and an accompanying clean guitar part (He must have a hard time with his distortion pedal) Then it feels like it’s going to go crazy again until it slowly comes goes back to the slow part. It then repeats that except there is a chant on the clean part. It goes back to where it pounds your brain out. Such a creative and energetic song, I’m loving it. Sometimes under all the chaos it can start to feel the same and sometimes I can’t tell the difference between tracks. I suppose that’s why I like Miss Machine better, more variety and the songs are different from each other. Sometimes the vocals are a turn-off while the vocals on Miss Machine are way accessible. I dread to use that word “accessible” as it seems people use that word on mainstream bands but sometimes this isn’t accessible to anyone. I still think it is a great album at times album so it’s a 4.
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Album Rating: 5.0
Thought that was a pretty solid review. I have heard most of the tracks off this album; its absolutely mezmerizing at first but the novelty kind of wears off I suppose. '43% Burnt' is definitely the best track on offer. 'Miss Machine' is marginally better.
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See, when mx says don't put title of the album at the top of the review this is what he means. Especially since the title's already at the top of the page looking perfect.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
What the fuck is that first sentence?
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Looking closely, a lot of the sentences are awkward pieces of work. And check yr. closing sentence, if it were just a 'good' album this would be a 3.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Ahhhh, you whore!!
I was gonna review this... eventually.
I pretty much agree with rating/review.
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I hate this album. Totally. It's just shitty noise.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
This album isn't grind
And im pretty sure DEP released their self titled album on Earach.
Ok review, but a lot of the sentences don't make sense and are totally stupid and you link them with the word and to much, and the sentences are way to long.
DEP are not noise either. If you want noise listen to Merzbow
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
i heard the song mullet burden by these guys and it was cool. i may check this out
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This isn't a very good review. It's not finished, coherent, or very informational (despite the opening paragraph).
Here is when I knew you were full of shit:
The song does not vary much like the last track with it being no change of direction and sometimes I can’t tell the difference but if it’s that good then it doesn’t really matter.
No variation in 43% Burnt? No change of direction? Maybe you've grown deaf from listening to too much of this band.
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i really like this band and this cd
good job on the review :thumb:
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Ive been a metalhead for about 10 years now and Ive played guitar and drums for almost 6 years. From a metal head and musicians perspective, this album is just noise and it sounds like shit. Their newest album, 'Miss Machine', isnt bad but they need do more than just technical riffing. Just because a riff has wierd timing, does not mean it sounds good. Good metal or hardcore or math metal (whatever the fuck its called) has some thought, and compassion. Anyway, you make a good reviewer other than the odd biased comment. 4/5 on review, 1/5 on album
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Ive been a metalhead for about 10 years now and Ive played guitar and drums for almost 6 years. From a metal head and musicians perspective, this album is just noise and it sounds like ****. Their newest album, 'Miss Machine', isnt bad but they need do more than just technical riffing. Just because a riff has wierd timing, does not mean it sounds good. Good metal or hardcore or math metal (whatever the **** its called) has some thought, and compassion. Anyway, you make a good reviewer other than the odd biased comment. 4/5 on review, 1/5 on album
I think you're pretty biased as well. Just because you don't like the album doesn't mean it's worthless. It's a brilliant album that perfectly expresses the one mood it sets out to create: complete unnerving chaos. Of course there's no "compassion" in this record, why should there be? This is just asskicking music that stomps on your face and then yells at you for bleeding on its boot.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
This "the wizard" guy proclaims to be a metalhead for 10 years. I don't think anyone really gives a shit. What you say against them is contradictory. Just listen to any track on Calc Infinity and the instrumentals as well. From a musicians perspective you should be less biased dude.
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No variation in 43% Burnt? No change of direction? Maybe you've grown deaf from listening to too much of this band.
I don't think you got where I was coming from.... I meant, like, the whole album sounds the same. The whole song is "ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR" *jazzy interlude* over and over again I felt. Maybe I'm just not tr00 enough to notice the difference 
This isn't a very good review. It's not finished, coherent, or very informational (despite the opening paragraph).
Here is when I knew you were full of shit:
I'm not full of shit at all. I explained the whole sound of the album, the highlight tracks, what I like and dislike about the album. What more do you want? But, I guess you can't win all the time
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
i think you should learn how to use commas and full stops
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i think you should learn how to use commas and full stops
And ironically that sentence never had a full stop :rolleyes:
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
ooh, the irony is sickening.
I said that because half your sentences DON'T MAKE SENSE
Check my first comment. Notice anything ironic there.
This Message Edited On 01.26.06
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I like this so much better than Miss Machine.
Saying this album is just noise is ignorance. I'm sure hair metal sounds like noise to old people (and a lot of others, but that's not the point). Black metal sounds like noise to ditzy skool girls. So on and so forth. Just because you don't like or "get" it, doesn't make it noise.
Merzbow, however, is noise, whichever way you look at it. He is a noise artist.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yes scruples, mezbow is a noise artist. I clearly said
"DEP are not noise either. If you want noise listen to Merzbow"This Message Edited On 01.26.06
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ooh, the irony is sickening.
I said that because half your sentences DON'T MAKE SENSE
Check my first comment. Notice anything ironic there.
I misunderstood sorry.
I never ment to call it noise in a bad way. I'm not bashing the band but the reason people are into it is that it's heavy and "noisy"
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