The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us Is the Killer (2013)
This album sees the aftermath of the departure of guitarist Jeff Tuttle, which fuckin' sucks because he went hard as shit live, but lo and behold, unlike the previous album "Option Paralysis", which I liked but thought it was more of the same of what the band was doing previously, this album FUCKING KICKS ASS!! DEP is back and louder than they ever have been! Something about the mixes on this album feels especially heavy compared to the previous albums, like they were at 10 before and finally cranked it to 11 in volume and intensity of the riffs. Along with the absence of Jeff Tuttle comes an absence of the industrial themes that they flirted with so passionately on the past few albums, which is sad because they really managed to incorporate it into their musical style without it feeling forced in there, but everything else about this album kicks ass and features pretty much everything else that you could want from the band in one album. You've even got another pretty and catchy song in the form of the title track! Wow! These boys know how to music!
That's one of the things that this album really has going for it in comparison to previous albums: In pretty much every song, there's something to hook yourself on in the form of catchiness, and I don't mean no bitchass "my jeans are way too fucking tight" sung metalcore choruses, because Greg Puciato's voice is far from perfect, with its own little flaws (you can sometimes tell he's straining to hit a note) but damn, it fucking fits perfectly. Would you ever hear a belted-out chorus like the one in "Crossburner" sung by one of those Tumblr bands? Would you ever hear a complete fucking musical freakout like in the ending of "Understanding Decay"? Would you ever hear ANYTHING like this by one of those bands? Fuck the fuck no, and that's what makes this band so interesting is that they push the envelope so hard that they actually destroy the letter in the process, but not without a certain level of class perfectly accenting the chaos and destruction that they leave in their wake, and even confusion, as people will wonder "how is that NOT Mike Patton?" when it comes to portions of "Nothing's Funny" and "Paranoia Shields".
I tell you what: My girlfriend does a lot of stupid shit (the biggest of which is choosing to stay in this relationship with me) that I get drunk and cry to her about, but her getting the feather on the album cover is NOT one of those things! It's not one of those things because this is such a fuckin' good album! From the amazing opening song "Prancer", with its amazing lyrics (seriously, check that track out) to "The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons", the band is out not just to pump out a great album, but to make a personal statement about the band itself (HEY PAUL!!) and their place in modern music, which is to say that they repeatedly switch between really fucking you up and then cuddling with you on this album. I don't think just one of them is the killer, but all of them, for killing my ears (in a good way, mind you) with another great album that's sure to remain in rotation for years to come, not just as "this album is really heavy/chaotic" but also in a "this album is actually pretty fuckin' well put together" kinda way. If you don't check out this album because "ugh I just want them to make "Calculating Infinity" again and again" then you're fuckin' missing out on a hell of a good time.
8/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
