Over the course of its career (now to be at its end), Dillinger Escape Plan has been the equivalent of a supercell tornado moving across music’s landscape, turning on a dime every time it sucks a new genre into its vortex. With Dissociation, DEP hasn’t so much evolved as maintained its path of destruction. Singer Greg Puciato still pivots from a wild-eyed hardcore roar that makes Dennis Lyxzén sound like Katy Perry by way of a Mike Patton-esque croon, often within the same song.
As for the mad scientists wielding the instruments, “Wanting Not So Much As To” is illustrative, alchemizing math metal, blast beats and a middle segment seemingly lifted straight from Slint’s Spiderland. Or take “Low Feels Blvd,” which segues from punishing hardcore to cocktail jazz. If all this sounds a chore to absorb, it really isn’t; DEP’s virtuosity, aggression and grasp of melody (if sporadic) make Dissociation a fascinating, headbanging and improbably accessible listen.
—Matt Ryan
