IRE WORKS

The Dillinger Escape Plan went further on with their experimental side with the release of their third studio album 'Ire Works' in 2007, an album that is as menacing as it is gripping and intense. Accomplishing a virtually perfect mixture between the raw, heavy and energetic playing of their earlier releases, and the more complex, eclectic side of their music, the one that could probably be seen as the metalcore rendition of jazz fusion - the mixture of these seemingly incompatible worlds is 'Ire Works', an adventurous and unorthodox heavy album that takes in strong influences from alternative and electronic music.

The album definitely contains some of Dillinger's best material, both in terms of complexity and aggression on the one hand, and stylistic diversity and experimentation, on the other. Playing around with sound design and armed with an impeccable sense of groove, the band also deliver some very memorable choruses in what turns out to be some of their more "commercially acceptable" songs, so to say. These would, of course, be 'Black Bubblegum', 'Milk Lizard', 'Dead As History' and the closing track 'Mouth of Ghosts'. Puciato shines as a great metal vocalist with a very fine range, while Ben Weinmann allows himself to jolt around with a variety of textures and techniques; the album features several shorter tracks that are quite uncommon yet technically impressive and obviously well-constructed in the studio. A great listen all throughout, some of the band's most eclectic material, and all this on an album whose cover uncannily resembles that of 'Dark Side of the Moon'.