Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
mismatching?, August 20, 2004
Another Dillinger Escape Plan album, another blitz of crunchy staccato rhythms, insane vocals, and frenetic rhythmic virtuosity.
But what's different?
DEP has added a bit more variety to their sound since their last full-length, _Calculating Infinity_. So apparently the crafty diversity of the _Irony Is A Dead Scene_ EP was not attributable solely to Mike Patton's involvement. There was some early buzz about this album being toned relative to previous DEP releases, with people saying it was "more melodic" and "less crazy" and what not. This is misleading, in my opinion. The opener, "Panasonic Youth", in 2 1/2 minutes lays down concrete-heavy slabs of metallic vitriol, delivering a polymetrical bludgeoning with enough time changes to knock any prog fan back on his azz. It is an opener that stands strong beside anything in DEP's catalogue. Then comes "Sunshine the Werewolf", with roaring speed, kinked rhythms, huge clomping riffs and...a catchy chorus?! Sounds hazardous, but DEP's craftsmanship cannot be faulted and nowhere do their 'catchier' ambitions lapse into cheesiness or shallowness. They use their hooks to grab you and their complexity to keep you coming back.
So, best to think of it not as anything "toned down", but rather a full album of material in the vein of the _Irony Is..._ EP. Stylistically, the vocals are more along the lines of the EP. There is actually quite a bit of singing on this album (compared to _Calculating Infinity_, which was basically all screaming), and a good variety of bloodcurdling screams. Is the new vocalist, Gred Paciuto, trying to sound like Patton? It's an impossible feat, so most vocalists should not be encouraged to try it. But Paciuto, while obviously trying to emulate Patton to some extent, deserves tremendous credit for serving the music incredibly well. He does have a good supply of Pattonisms -- "Unretrofied" even sounds like an outtake from _Album of the Year_, due in no small part to the singing. And his screaming is awesome. With the last EP, DEP kind of revised the role of the vocalist in the band. The new vocalist tackles that role adroitly.
All of the songs are outstanding, even tracks where DEP's usual insanity is considerably tempered, like "Highway Robbery" -- which might have been a some kind of punk song were it not for the major chops and syncopation -- and the polyrhythmic, industrially-inflected "Phone Home". Still, the best songs those that embrace the band's lust for speed, assaulting rhythmic power, fragmented melodies, and complex tempo changes: songs like "We Are the Storm", "The Perfect Design", "Van Damsel", and
"Panasonic Youth" are some of the most delicious in their catalogue.
Probably their best album so far.
(Btw, the deluxe edition of this album comes with a DVD footage from various DEP live shows. Personally, I think it's pretty much worthless, since the footage is horrible and the sound quality sucks azz. But who cares, the cd is awesome.)
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still godly, July 24, 2004
Here it is, finally: after four years, a couple of lineup changes, and a one-off project with the legendary Mike Patton, the almighty Dillinger Escape Plan have released a proper second album of demented genius. It's been kind of a weird month, with DEP following Candiria and Neurosis in releasing albums that contain some marked departures from their signature styles. While part of me wishes my favorite bands would stick to what made me like them so much in the first place (you know, if it ain't broke...), I suppose they have to mix things up at least a little bit. Besides, having already released one of the craziest albums of all time in the form of "Calculating Infinity," these guys weren't going to take anyone by surprise this time out. At any rate, "Miss Machine" is still a spectacular release that manages to move forward without abandoning the creativity and technical brilliance that made "Calculating Infinity" such a blockbuster of an album. DEP are basically a genre unto themselves, and "Miss Machine" only cements their status as one of the world's most intelligent heavy bands.
While the high-speed, uber-complex mathcore of "Calculating Infinity" is still very much in evidence here, it seems to have mutated into a slightly different form. Songs like "Panasonic Youth," "Sunshine the Werewolf" and "The Perfect Design" do contain their fare share of jarring, angular stuctures that will have you banging your head until your neck hurts, but they're also notable for bringing in a more groove-oriented approach led by some guitar riffs that actually resemble something from a thrash metal album. And while his predecessor Dmitri was largely content to scar his larynx with petrifying screams, new vocalist Greg Pucito betrays DEP's newfound Mr. Bungle influence with some sneering, snarling and even singing that should prove to be a pleasant surprise for the band's more adventurous listeners. And of course, these guys are all still among the best musicians on earth, capable of pulling off just about anything in any style they feel like. Just listen to that pounding riff that opens up "Sunshine the Werewolf" on your car stereo without starting up a one-man mosh pit. I dare you.
However, it's elsewhere that DEP really stretches out to show us some new tricks that they've picked up since their debut. "Highway Robbery" is almost punkish, but not at all in a bad way; its combination of in-your face aggression and technical perfection actually brings to mind the Refused classic "The Shape of Punk to Come." The bitter kiss-off "Phone Home" is delightfully malevolent, replacing the band's typical polyrhythmic fury with the harsh atmospheres and scathing anger of industrial metal. With its wacky genre mixing and schizophrenic vocals, "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants" could easily be mistaken for a Mr. Bungle song if not for the occasional flurries of devastating riffage and thunderous drum pounding. However, the real curveball comes with "Unretrofied," a slow, methodical, ambient piece with a melodic chorus (!) sung by Pucito in an almost sweet voice. If you can handle a song like this on a Dillinger album, you can handle just about anything.
On a related note, if you're lucky enough to find the special edition with the bonus DVD, snatch it up immediately. As one might expect, the live performances on here, featuring such classics as "Sugar Coated Sour" and "43% Burnt" along with some new songs, are positively SICK. Anyone who listens to this band knows how crazy their sound is, but seeing the energy of one of their live performances (even if only on DVD) adds a whole new dimension. Hell, it's worth getting the DVD just for the performance in Japan where Greg jumps into the crowd and surfs on a bunch of skinny Japanese kids. Classic stuff I say, just like this album. I'm already salivating over the thought of the next one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still leaders, not followers, July 30, 2004
Since the Dillinger Escape Plan inhabit a genre all to themselves, it's hardly surprising that Miss Machine isn't a huge leap forward from their last album, Calculating Infinity, despite the five-year gap. So any criticism that the band is merely producing 'more of the same' is pretty redundant.
In fact, Miss Machine does differ from its predecessor in many subtle ways: 'new' singer Greg Puciato has more of an accent to his screams than those of Dimitri Minakakis; the sound is no longer as harsh and relentless as it was on slices of mayhem like The Mullet Burden (from the Under the Running Board EP); and the influence of Mike Patton, as evident on their collaboratory EP Irony is a Dead Scene from a couple of years ago, has been to their creative advantage.
But differences aside, the DEP retain their title as the tightest metal band playing today, their trademark hairpin time changes as surprising and dizzying as ever. (Of course the best way to experience this is live - they have to be seen to be believed.) With Miss Machine, the Dillinger Escape Plan have confounded the sceptics and raised the bar just that little bit higher; just enough to prove they're still the leaders, not followers.
(On a side note, fellow reviewer 'iobrien' misses the point when he/she dismisses the record. Screaming is integral to this genre of music; to write off the DEP for that is kind of like saying Beethoven's music is rubbish because there are too many violins.)
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