“Ire? I have plenty of Ire. Here, have some more…”

Album: Ire Works
Artist: The Dillinger Escape Plan
Year: 2007
Genre: Mathcore
Label: Relapse

The fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan (DEP for short) are split. On one side you have the older fans who think that Dimitri Minakakis –the original vocalist- is better than Greg Puciato –the current vocalist- and that they should be doing more (Hard)core and less Math. On the other side are newer fans who appreciate both Puciato’s vocals and the experimentation being brought to the band’s most recent works. I myself stand with the newer fans, having just become one late last year. One of the reasons for my stance is this: Hardcore, while being a great genre, has a tendency to repeat itself…. a lot. The DEP have neatly avoided that pot hole and that’s precisely what pisses the older fans off, that they don’t repeat Calculating Infinity with every release. I haven’t actually heard Calculating, but I’m sure it’s good and I’ve heard everything else (Including Under the Running Board.) But this isn’t about Calculating. This is about Ire Works.

Having heard Miss Machine, I can say that Ire Works, while following in the same path, does not repeat the exact same formula as Miss. One of the reasons for this is the numerous personal changes the DEP have gone through between albums. Since Miss Machine, their second guitarist Brian Benoit suffered nerve damage to his left hand and opted to leave the band. Their drummer, Chris Pennie, also left to join Coheed and Cambria and was summarily replaced by Gil Sharone of Stolen Babies. The only original member left, Ben Weinman is and has been the main creative force behind the band since its inception and that, in my mind, should be good enough for the older fans, especially considering the power of Ire Works. The Album, like its predecessors, is an exercise in pushing hardcore to new extremes of speed and precision. The musicians handling that task are more than up to it, with Puciato roaring his way through 11 of the 13 tracks with even more ferocity than demonstrated on Miss Machine. Wienman and bass player Liam Wilson are also tight as a cap, but a real surprise is Sharone’s drumming. With Stolen Babies his drumming is excellent, but doesn’t even begin to hint at the speed and energy which this man is capable of. The opener “Fix Your Face” (Which Minakakis sings backing vocals, incidentally) proves he can keep up with the rest of the band perfectly. It’s like he’s always been their true drummer and they just figured that out recently.

The album also features highly experimental (and instrumental) tracks like “When Acting as a Particle” and “When Acting as a Wave” which sandwich more traditional piece “Nong Eye Gong.” The Album succeeds in continuing the band’s claim to the Mathcore title (that of being both Hardcore and extremely proficient.) Even the more accessible tracks like “Black Bubblegum” and “Milk Lizard” are ferocious and skillfully executed. “Milk Lizard” is a particular favorite of mine actually. The Album ends with a two more experimental tracks sandwiching a more traditional one. “Dead as History” starts out as a dark ambient soundscape reminiscent of Lustmord, but it builds into a haunting piano tune and then into the brutal sonic assault that the DEP are known for. But it’s “Mouth of Ghosts,” that stands out the most as an oddity. Another haunting piano piece, but this time, instead of building into a ball lightning strike like the rest of the album, stays slower and less furious. It still ends with teeth, but the teeth aren’t ripping into your ears… that’s a lie, they still rip, just not as much.

All in all, the album is fantastic and should be taken in as a whole, rather than as individual tracks. Otherwise, some of the more experimental takes don’t come off as well. Aside from that minor, minor issue, this album is a perfect document of the brutality and genius of Mathcore and The Dillinger Escape Plan.