live animals features:
1999
“I've come to cut cupid's heart out; I've come to take your breath away.”
“Calculated Insanity” may be a more appropriate title for the DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN’s first full-length. While quite a few bands have attempted to blend the primal rage of hardcore with the virtuosity of progressive musicianship, scarcely any have been able to approach anything as twisted as this. Guitarist Brian Benoit and drummer Chris Pennie roar, whir, smash, and figure skate through track after track of insanely brutal math-grind. The main riffs of “The Running Board…Apex Accept Instruction” could chew tree stumps into popsicle sticks, while the sugary slapdash melodies of “Weekend Sex Change” lull listeners into a hazy stupor before annihilating them with the tumultuous blast of "Variations on a Cocktail Dress". “Calculating Infinity” has gathered massive critical acclaim, spawned a million imitators, and received high marks from both punk and tech-metal snobs. Impressively, the band would only continue to hone their lethal sound for subsequent releases.
Picks of the litter, 1999:
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