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The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine

Tuesday, 11 December 2007

Editor's rating

5.7

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Chad Coup
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Tuesday, 11 December 2007
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Music Information

Track Listing:
01. Panasonic Youth
02. Sunshine the Werewolf
03. Highway Robbery
04. Van Damsel
05. Phone Home
06. We Are The Storm
07. Crutch Field Tongs
08. Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants
09. Baby's First Coffin
10. Unretrofied
11. The Perfect Design

Artist: The Dillinger Escape Plan
Title: Miss Machine
Genre: Progressive Metal • Alternative • Hardcore
Release Date: 20 July 2004
Record Label: Relapse Records
Format: Full-length
Country: United States of America
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The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine

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Editor review

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Overall rating (weighted)		5.7
Musicianship		7.0
Composition		5.0
Experimentation		4.0
Production		8.0
Value		5.0

Perhaps the most controversial of all tech metal follow-ups, The Dillinger Escape Plan has, for better or worse, shattered its illustrious pedigree made by their 1999 masterpiece called 'Calculating Infinity.' Barring a lineup change, big things were expected from the band and when this album dropped, fans were more divided than ever. DEP changed their sound to become more pop-friendly. This is evident on the song "Unretrofied." The song is so sentimental and soft that most fans of popular music--the whole spectrum--could like it. Not a bad thing, but when the band made one of the most influential albums of all time, catering to the MTV crowd is a slap in the face. The techno/industrial aspect of the song, and most of the album, comes across as dorky and silly. It's becoming harder and harder to take the band seriously after a performance like that.

There are some bright spots to be had, though. "Panasonic Youth" and "Van Damsel" retain much of the chaotic nature and ferocity from anything on 'Calculating Infinity,' further proving to me that the band is still capable of playing the technical hardcore that made them get on the map in the first place. "Phone Home" is still the best song that Nine Inch Nails never recorded. "We Are The Storm" is halfway effective as both a tech track and a post-hardcore number. The album's ender, "The Perfect Design," kind of recaps what the album started off with until it gets into slightly successful sludge to close the record out. It's not all bad. It's just that the band's choices in variety are not to my liking, to understate.

Musically, the band plays their instruments very well. Guitar work is extremely high quality, as are the jazz fusion-ey drums. However, newcomer vocalist Greg Puciato doesn't do the job that well as a screamer. He can sing well, as evidenced on the album's handful of soft parts, but when he screams, it seems forced, scratchy, throaty and weak. It doesn't seem genuinely emotive in any way, and that's a problem when the press prides the band on being groundbreaking and powerful. In the mix, the vocals are turned up a bit too loud. Bass is barely able do differentiate between the guitar and drums. At least the mixer got three out of five instruments right.

It's clear that DEP would rather play awkward half tech/half pop ballads with tracks like "Highway Robbery" and "Sunshine The Werewolf." It sends me a mixed message and I don't like what it's saying. Chaotic, technical music and sing-along songs can't be reconciled no matter how hard this band tries to do so. Tracks such as "Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants" and "Baby's First Coffin" are the most experimental songs on this album, yet the organization is so slapdash and sloppy, with the latter being a prime example of how not to structure a song. If anyone is trying to discredit tech music, he or she should just play these two songs for any music major and watch the tears roll down from both sets of eyes.

Conversely, DEP isn't really trying to be tech. Gasp! They're trying to do something different and I will applaud them until the world ends, but this record is just not a sufficient example of successful cross-genre hybridizing. It feels cheap and dishonest underneath the clear talent and musicianship here. The band is trying to make its own new sound and it seems to be working. 'Miss Machine' got into the 2004 Top 200 at 106. I'm glad for them. These musicians do deserve success. They are talented, hard working individuals that love their fans and are probably solid dudes in the process. The downside is that this band is not the same band that turned the DIY, extreme music world on its ear just five years ago. It's better to leave the extreme music world with one fantastic, mind-blowing record (and a great earlier EP) than no record at all.

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