CALCULATING INFINITY

Masterpeice by all means. You can see that DEP are one of the most relentlessly innovative forces in music today. Many have tried to blindly categorize this band as noisecore simply because they create a very dissonant and chaotic sound with their music. Many say they have no melody and harmony when they do, but simply keep it hidden behind dissonance. Many say that it is not music, but what honestly is music nowadays, who draws the line. It seems to me that some pay much attention to them and will listen over and over again when others may listen to one track and dismiss it as people making "silly noises and trying to call it music" (or something similar, not a direct quote). You either love 'em or hate 'em.

PROS

It seems quite plain to me (as a composer, guitarist, drummer and bassist who also studies music) that this music is sheer genius. The intense polyrhythms that are created here are almost impossible to define and almost seem random. Time signatures are often very unusual and usually played at very fast tempos. The unusual tonalities and use of odd scales and modes are also very obvious. It is also obvious that these musicians are incredible, The guitarists are beyond virtuosic and use a whole range of techniques, the drummer who can pretty much do anything with (i think) a five peice kit and even the vocalist manages to fit his lyrics into the time signatures. But these musicians are not brutes, as we all know that being very fast and intense does not make good music. it is proven in many tracks that they can tone it down a notch. In 43% burnt there is a middle section where the guitars turn clean and the drummer uses softer techniques (although the section is still very complex). In 4th Grade Dropout there is a simple chord sequence which is not complex at all, its even in 4/4! Calculating Infinity is almost completely toned down and only has one time signature which remains the same all the way through (this song also has a clean chord sequence based section). So even though these musicians can create a very fast, uncompromising and chaotic assault, they can also tone it down and make a listener really feel. I could happily say that these musicians pay attention to pretty much all musical devices. Timbral techniques, timing, structure, dynamics, tonality, mood/feel/atmosphere, texture you name it.

Most importantly to me is the fact that this band is the only one recently that has reinvented rock music. The music is relentlessly dissonant, chaotic sounding and often goes far beyond any other progressive artist. It has aspects of many genres in it but still does not sound like any. It often contains the thick texture and fast rhythms and attitude of hardcore punk and modern hardcore (Black Flag, Converge). It has the crushing heaviness of grindcore and metal. It has the intellegent timings, tonalities and textural changes of prog and tech metal (Dream Theater, Meshuggah). In some tracks there are influences from electronica and drum and bass (*# and Weekend Sex Change). But then again you could not class the band under any of these genres. Thus "mathcore" was born as a genre title (yeah right) which i feel is still not fitting, the band themselves even deny this as it implies their music is without feeling and is based on being simply fast and technical. Even so, DEP created something truly unique and were the first "mathcore" band. They have a signature sound (especially signature rhythms) which define this genre and you cannot hear it in any band before DEP although many try immitating it today (Architects, although they are very different).

EXCUSE ME.. BUT.. WHAT?

Many people have proven to be repeatedly ignorant and increasingly dissmisive about DEP. I find many who i ask upon for their opinion of the band give me odd answers. Many claim they have no structure when it is blindingly obvious that they do incude themes that repeat and come back its not just random. 43% burnt is a prime example of this as at the end of the song themes come back (slightly altered). This occurs in almost all of their songs. Many also claim that their is no jazz influence. Being brought up in a jazz community around jazz musicians and listening to much of the music myself i can safely say that there is a large jazz influence. Surely the unusual tonalities and fast complex timings immitate the likes of be-bop (not forgetting the quick and irregular phrasing of melodies). Lastly YES they DO have harmony and melody as i explained before, often hidden behind dissonances.

CONS

Yes i will admit there are cons, most noteably the singer. I like all genres of music including hardcore punk and i can appreciate the attitude and feeling that has gone into the vocals of DEP but yes, it is shouting. There is lots of it too and i admit it would be nice to have some singing or a singer who proves that he too is a real musician (i feel they made up for this on later material with their new singer and collaboration with Mike Patton). I also admit that this music is difficult to listen to at first and it takes a while for the music to sink in ( i also hated it originally). I am constantly scared that because i am a musician that i am ever- so-slightly biased towards technical music and maybe they should be more accessible (but then they would not make the music they do). The production quality seems very good (although intentionally a little grimey) but some aspects are not heard that i have only realised on listening to some live recordings. Some underlying technical riffs are hard to hear on the album version.

CONCLUSION

All in all i can understand someone not liking it as it is difficult to listen to but they should be appreciated for how interesting and different they truly are no matter what. I feel it is mandatory for DEP to be recognised for what they have done for rock music as it is one of the only truly different bands out there.