Patton Escape Plan

I know the Dillinger Escape Plan has nothing but love for Mike Patton. Hell, their collaborative EP from a few years back is a hard kick in the man-sack and proved that they knew more about music then just mindless wanking and dead-cat-sounding screaming. Dmitri, their first "singer" all but ruined their otherwise ferocious debut EP and 1999's Calculating Infinity, an album emulated by thousands of wanna-be Math-Core fuckwads (All Else Failed, I'm looking in your direction). It wasn't until they shed themselves of him that they could mix the chops with actual song parts. 

Miss Machine was an odd one. It was the recording debut of their new singer Greg, a muscle-bound short dude who was more GG Allin on stage than singer. However, this guy can fucking sing. Does he worship at the Patton Throne and pull off a bit of Trent Reznor? Um, yeah. But that's cool...There's plenty worse he could steal from. So Miss Machine was a collection of good pieces (especially "Unretrofied", an actual song), but just lacked the fury of the EP and the song thatt broke them in the underground years before, "43% Burnt". 

An iTunes covers EP followed. Love the Timberlake cover, hate the Soundgarden attempt. And then their founding drummer left...for Coheed & Fucking Cambria. I couldn't make this shit up. So they find a replacement more technically proficient in this dude Gil from Stolen Babies. Some hand injuries for their guitarist which only allows him to write and record for DEP is also thrown in the mix. Good times.

Ire Works is their first masterpiece. "Fix Your Face" will please old fans and win new ones, while "Black Bubblegum" reinvents the band by the time the track hits the one-minute mark. No longer a Patton clone (but still a bright pupil), Greg uses his very versatile range to go from falsetto croons right into razor-blade screams. The musicianship is simply top-notch. The math-core spazz tracks are perfectly dusted throughout the album, while their hundred new directions pack the real punch. Lots of electronics, actual singing and damn good songs. Songs.

Record of the year? Too early to tell. All I know is that every band that ever ripped one note from DEP better understand that their services are no longer needed.