MISS MACHINE

Without a shadow of doubt we can say that The Dillinger Escape Plan reinvented metal music with the release of their second studio album 'Miss Machine' in 2004, a scorchingly heavy release that dared to experiment with a variety of influences from industrial to fusion, and while traditional prog fans might recoil in horror at the sounds of the grizzly vocals and manic, dissonant instrumental playing, 'Miss Machine' is truly a brilliant piece of heavy music that has influenced virtually all subsequent movements in the genre, including the likes of djent and necessarily the currently quite popular metalcore. The blatant aggression and fiery rage of the music of Dillinger is here counterbalanced by a very daringly experimental approach and the inclusion of several intriguing passages that would easily resonate with jazz fans is an additional flavor to the otherwise cathartic playing; there is also an apparent use of electronics and programming that add another layer to the music, one that possibly pertains to the influence of Nine Inch Nails. It is important to say that this album saw a lineup change in the addition of Greg Puciato on vocals (coming from an industrial band) and bassist Liam Wilson, and that it serves as a follow-up to a now-legendary 2002 EP with Mike Patton on vocals.

Dense and chaotic, 'Miss Machine' is really out there to challenge the common ideas about heavy music with its vigorous rage and technical proficiency, the album meanders between scorchingly heavy riffs and more controlled, experimental passages full of feel and a desire to expand the scope of the band's sound. An intense and demanding listen that sits at about forty minutes, at the root of its sounds one would necessarily find the spirit of progressive, much like a contemporary Gentle Giant, each release by Dillinger is full of exploration, power and ingenious approaches to writing music. Look no further than the angular album opener 'Panasonic Youth', a dangling and unhinged piece of metalcore whose shattering sounds set a menacing tone for the entirety of the record. The more acceptable chorus of 'Highway Robbery' is followed by a beautiful fusion instrumental part, while the engineered soundscapes of the gloomy 'Phone Home' reminisce a lot about what Nine Inch Nails had been doing some years prior, with the singing voice of Puciato lying somewhere between an enraged Trent Reznor and a ludicrous metalcore version of Mike Patton. Other really strong examples of the band's capabilities and fusion of styles are the menacing tracks 'Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants' and 'Unretrofied', virtually the most reasonably constructed song on the album, and the one with the most accessible direction. 'Miss Machine' is among the groundbreaking metalcore albums of the early 2000s, one that has a truly progressive underlying spirit, marking a shift in the band's style towards more experimental territories.