Now unfortunately, due to some legal issues with Lamb of God and their tour mates Dethklok, both bands had to drop off the bill, but Heavy T.O. quickly recovered and brought us not only In Flames (we'll talk about later), but also these off the map guys!
Now, for these articles, I usually throw around some opinions and constructive criticisms. I'm going to keep all feelings aside and just report on some need to know facts about these bands to make your experience at the festival a little more enjoyable. If you know of someone going to the festival, pass the articles along and get them just as stoked as we are! For today, AFGM brings you THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN!
After five studio albums and countless tours around the globe, the Dillinger Escape Plan has earned much respect among fans and critics worldwide. With accomplishments such as coverage in mass media from the Rolling Stone to the New York Times, Billboard chart status, and performances on net work television such as Late night with Conan O’Brien, the Dillinger Escape Plan is often named one of the most important bands to have immerged over the last decade.
(Photo courtesy of Katie Thompson)
DEP consists of:
Greg Puciato – Vocals | Ben Weinman – Guitars | Jeff Tuttle – Guitars | Liam Wilson – Bass | Billy Rymer – Drums, Percussion
The Dillinger Escape Plan evolved from the hardcore band Arcane around 1996. The initial lineup included guitarists Ben Weinman, and Derrick Brantley, bassist Adam Doll, drummer Chris Pennie, and vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. The band was nameless for many months until long time friend Matt Backerman decided to form Now Or Never records and asked the band to both perform on one of his underground basement shows and record what would be his and the bands first official release. They quickly, without much thought, chose the name 'The Dillinger Escape Plan' while watching a documentary on the mobster John Dillinger. Brantley didn't end up showing when the band went to record the 6 song self titled effort with Producer Steve Evetts causing the band to record as a quartet. After a short self booked tour around the east coast with long time friend John Fulton on second guitar, the band quickly wrote and recorded the now infamous 3 song ep 'Under the Running board' in 1998 which was released on Relapse Records shortly before Fulton exited the group to pursue his studies.
(DEP performing at Toronto's 2008 Wakestock)
During the writing of the band's debut full-length, to be release on Relapse Records in 1999, bassist Adam Doll was paralyzed in a car accident and unable to continue as a member. Using inspiration from his former band mates, Ben Weinman played most of the guitar and bass on Calculating Infinity, which received great response and reviews and was considered by many to be 'an extremely innovative and groundbreaking album.' During the making of this album Jesuit guitarist Brian Benoit was recruited and bassist Jeff Wood, formally of M.O.D and Mind Eraser, joined the band leading to an extensive and lengthy touring period.
After several successful tours, including Mr.Bungle and Warped, bassist Jeff Wood left The Dillinger Escape Plan, replaced by Liam Wilson. Then in 2000, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis departed the group.
In August of 2002, an ep featuring friend and long time influence, Mike Patton, was written while the band was searching for a new full time singer. The material included on Irony Is a Dead Scene was subsequently recorded and released after new vocalist Greg Puciato was recruited.
After touring with their new vocalist performing the bands already established catalog, and recording a few songs here and there for soundtracks and tribute albums, finally in 2004 the band recorded their first full-length featuring Puciato. Miss Machine sold well and solidified The Dillinger Escape Plan as one of the most creative and polarizing groups in metal.
The next couple of years were filled with a lot of injuries and strife. Guitarist Brian Benoit had to leave the band because of a nerve injury. Weinman also suffered from multiple injuries including a torn rotator cuff and a broken vertebra sustained during a show in Anaheim CA during a tour in 2005. Despite many setbacks, the band released a digital EP Plagiarism in 2006, which was all cover songs and recruited Heads Will Roll Guitarist and lead singer Jeff Tuttle on second guitar. Then in 2007 while on the verge of recording their next album, drummer Chris Pennie quit and joined the band Coheed and Cambria.
(Photo by Katie Thompson - circa 2007's Ire Works)
Without a drummer the band began programming drums before eventually being introduced to Gil Sharone. Gil proved to be more then able to handle the job and was hired to play on Ire Works. Ire Works was released in late 2007 to rave reviews. Former vocalist Dimitri Minakakis also appeared on one track as well as Mastodon’s Brent Hines. After touring the world in support of Ire Works, the band then decided to take some time off in order to secure a full time Drummer and write a new record.
In 2009 it was reported that the band would be starting their own label umbrella called Party Smasher inc. and had parted ways with former label Relapse records after fulfilling their contractual obligations. It was also during this time that the band reported recruiting Billy Rymer as their full time drummer. The Dillinger Escape Plan released their fourth studio album, produced and recorded by long time friend Steve Evetts, entitled 'Options Paralysis' in March 2010 through Party Smasher Inc and French Metal Label Season of Mist.
(DEP performing at Toronto's 2008 Wakestock)
Now Dillinger hasn't put out anything recently (probably because I see so many other collaborations with bands and the two main members Greg and Ben. Ben has also been dabbing into the remix game and has done work for As I Lay Dying, Lacuna Coil, Bring Me The Horizon, Whitechapel, etc.) but are still constantly touring new material and supporting their latest LP "Option Paralysis", which dropped on March 22nd, 2010 via Party Smasher/Season of the Mist Records.
1. Farewell, Mona Lisa
2. Good Neighbor
3. Gold Teeth on a Bum
4. Crystal Morning
5. Endless Endings
6. Widower
7. Room Full of Eyes
8. Chinese Whispers
9. I Wouldn't If You Didn't
10. Parasitic Twins
The reviews for "Option Paralysis" came back strong as to be expected. These guys have been consistently pushing the limits of their song structure, writing and (from the one review below) their "bipolar" writing styles. Seriously, if you listen to something such as Miss Machine (first album I heard from these guys), the tracks very much jump all over the place. Now keep in mid that these guys won't be for everyone. Hell, I even had a hard time getting to like them after listening to "Panasonic Youth". That track rumbled my brain for a bit that day. Anyways, check out some reviews below to get a feel for the newer albums...
"The Dillinger Escape Plan don't make any major stylistic leaps on this, their fourth album. In some ways, it's a return to the shouty, spastic post-hardcore of their full-length debut, Calculating Infinity, abandoning the electronic freakouts of 2007's Ire Works while retaining some of the melodic elements, even if there's nothing here as almost radio-friendly as 'Milk Lizard.' Vocalist Greg Puciato has developed into quite the crooner, and even his shouting recalls Guy Picciotto more than Cookie Monster, when he's not borrowing Mike Patton's sneer. The band can still turn on a dime, musically speaking; its ultra-intricate jazz-metal breaks and solos that don't feel like solos are still very present. So is the element of surprise; 'Widower' is a piano-driven ballad that's downright beautiful, even (or especially) when the drummer's going berserk behind his bandmates, slowly building to an inevitable hardcore outburst at the four-minute mark. If there's one thing to complain about on Option Paralysis, it's that the album has pieces made up of cool parts, instead of songs made up of hooks. But for Dillinger fans, that alienating complexity is a bug, not a feature, and the fact that it's impossible to remember how a given song goes when it's over is taken as a testament to the bandmembers' ability to perform these stunts. So once again, they're preaching -- at top volume -- to the converted. Which is fine, because they remain very, very good at what they do." -All Music
***
(DEP performing at Toronto's 2008 Wakestock)
"Right before the album's head slipping ender though, we're left with 'I Wouldn't If You Didn't,' the grand marque of where the band has been and where they are stacked now. Their idols shine through, but the grit and dirt that the band has always been known for kicks the listener around before calmly sitting at a piano - then, one last swift kick to the head.
The Dillinger Escape Plan look less like the psychotic freak show they once started out to be. They are now bipolar in their writing, but are taking the right steps to channel all their sporadic creativity into well crafted architecture. Maybe I'm the wrong person to say this, but Option Paralysis has shaped itself up to be the best album by the band to date. It's sad to think that our idols die off eventually, or even worse, fade because of scrutiny. The Dillinger Escape Plan has certainly reached a peak for many, but with this album, they may have just solidified their seat amongst prog and metal kids alike." -Absolute Punk
***
(DEP performing at Toronto's 2008 Wakestock)
"There, and on the succeeding four tracks, DEP demonstrates that they haven't forgotten everything they learned about tunefulness for their last release. The second half of Option Paralysis is heavily indebted to Nine Inch Nails: On both the absurdly heavy 'Room Full of Eyes' and the melancholy 'I Wouldn't If You Didn't,' an industrial ambiance pervades, and Puciato's sardonic intonations on the latter could be mistaken for Trent Reznor's. But just because they're taking cues from underground metal's biggest mainstream success doesn't mean that DEP has anything like a crossover in mind. Rather than including something that's radio friendly from start to finish, they instead put melody in the service of mayhem, with piano leads and clean-sung bridges surfacing to destabilize a locked-in groove or soften up the listener for another bout of thrashing metal riffs. With DEP, there's nothing too pretty to be made into a weapon, and if they give you anything to hold on to, it's probably made of barbed wire.
The downside to this approach is that it reduces melodicism to its function in a given track: What DEP wants is the drama of a big sing-along swelling out of a fantastically heavy breakdown, or the WTF-factor that comes with having Ben Weinman close the album with a bluesy guitar solo instead his characteristically proggy shredding. What they aren't especially interested in is hooks. That's too bad, because it's not as though their aesthetic would be totally undone if these sorts of passages were unpredictable and catchy—as were many of the last album's standouts. It's clear that Option Paralysis is difficult by design, but the upshot is that anyone who can make it through the first two tracks will probably find one of their favorite albums of the year." -Slant Magazine
For more information on these guys, be sure to check em out at any of the following official links:
- www.facebook.com/dillingerescapeplan
- www.twitter.com/dillingerescpln
- www.twitter.com/gregpuciato
- www.facebook.com/wewrotetheseplans
- www.twitter.com/liamwilson
- www.twitter.com/jeff_tuttle
- www.twitter.com/billyrymer
- www.myspace.com/dillingerescapeplan
(DEP performing at Toronto's 2008 Wakestock)
*THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN WILL BE PERFORMING ON SATURDAY (THE 11TH) AT THE JAGERMEISTER EAST STAGE FROM 16:15-17:00*
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