The band's last album, "One of Us Is The Killer", was quite organized and simple, with more of their jazz influences involved and more "normal" song structures. Well, there is nothing of that in "Dissociation". In this record, the band goes full weird, unleashing a final chaotic assault that is sure to leave every listener with a mind blown and a dropped jaw. DEP takes their sound and tries to stretch and bend it as far and wide as possible, doing everything in their might to leave with as loud of a crash so no one will forget that this band has been here.
It is certainly safe to say that "Dissociation" will be an album that will be remembered, not because of the old strategies that most other band uses (catchy choruses, awesome riffs, long ass solos), but because this album has so many layers and corners so you can get dizzy by just looking at it. We got crazy breakdowns, soaring vocal passages, sudden tempo shifts, and tons of different effects that alters the sound immensely. The most eye brow raising part though is one specific song called "Fugue", which is a fully instrumental song, consisting only of electronic sound! This is completely nuts, and the weirdest part is that it sounds great, fitting very well with the rest of the album. Man, that is something I never thought I would write about a techno song.
What really defines "Dissociation" and makes it excel is the band's performance, which is extremely precise and wild. The two guys that stands out the most though is the drummer Billy Rymer and singer Greg Puciato. Rymer's rhythms and beats are literally all over the place, in a good way, accentuating the defining parts of every song. Greg though, is a complete lunatic, taking his vocals to the limit in such extreme ways, never taking the foot from the gas pedal. Just listen to him in the opening track "Limerent Death", where he screams his lungs out in several different ways and tempos. Incredible how much the human vocal chords can sustain. The guitarist Ben Weinman gets his moments too, especially in "Nothing To Forget" where he opens up the song with an almost futuristic riff, drenched in effects. It is weird as fuck, but also cool as fuck.
The chaos in this record is intriguing as hell, keeping you busy for several hours in your journey to discover every corner of it. All of these incredible details could have easily been lost with the production, but the band has made sure to get everything right here, their swan song. While the album is chaotic as a full blown war, it still feels controlled and organized, carefully planed into the slightest detail. The band wanted to give the fans a helluva final album, and the fans got it.
While "Dissociation" is a unique DEP album, but it still have tons of familiar elements that we recognize from the band's career. The chaotic nature of this record is fascinating, and I am sure that it will stand the test of time, going to history as one of the finest DEP releases. It was hard to take in at first, but it managed to evolve the more I listened to it, making more and more sense. This is a fantastic record, and it is really sad that this closes the chapter that is known as The Dillinger Escape Plan
Good bye you technical and complicated guys, you escaped way too soon, and we will all miss you.
Songs worthy of recognition: Nothing To Forget, Limerent Death, Symptom of Terminal Illness, Dissociation
Rating: 9/10 Honeysuckles
www.dillingerescapeplan.org/
More reviews of The Dillinger Escape Plan
One of Us Is The Killer
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