THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - Dissociation

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation (2016, Party Smasher – Cooking Vinyl)

Ever since August 2016 The Dillinger Escape Plan announced that Dissociation would be the final release of the band before an extended hiatus, that would later be confirmed as a definitive break-up, there’s an aura of knowing that it will be a precious album from the masters of Mathcore. As a fully affirmed fan of their music since the release of the self-titled EP and an over fifteen years old Calculating Infinity t-shirt would be some of the proofs of this fandom. Let’s be honest to ourselves the expectations for Dissociation are high and even the band has some apprehension knowing that Ben Weinman has always been worshipping One of Us Is The Killer as their masterpiece. Today, if it was my opinion, he would have to change his speech a bit with their most recent iteration.

The final chapter of DEP is true to their discography and concludes well the evolution and the permutations of the band. The music is syncopated and timed with such precise playing that it is hard to believe they can really deliver in such a tight manner. Their final tour, which yours truly will be attending in December, will prove wrong the last of their detractors. If there are any left.

With time, the mathcore of DEP has evolved  with the inclusion of clean vocals, more instruments and softer moments that bring a great contrast to the aggressive main persona of their music. In Dissociation, those moments are handled with great mastery. In fact, the essence of this record is the fact that the band has reached full maturity and completed the circle of what they could achieve in this form. In spite, of continuing they made the difficult choice to end while delivering their crowning work.

In a clean and crisp production, Dissociation is fully centered on guitar riffing, machine-like drumming, and aggressive/clean vocals. Released on their own label Party Smasher, the sixth and final album is a near perfect album.

9.0