Killer Music

The Dillinger Escape Plan returns to school the metal masses

With an eagerly anticipated album out this month, The Dillinger Escape Plan has an entire year and a half of sold-out touring ahead itself, according to vocalist Greg Puciato.

“This is the first time in almost 10 years that we’ve recorded a record back to back with the same lineup and that made a huge difference for us as a band,” Puciato says of new album One Of Us Is The Killer. “When you have to get a new member, you have to teach them everything from scratch. This time around we had more freedom to be creative, and nothing to do between tours except to write music with [people] we already knew that were in the band.”

The Dillinger Escape Plan—also featuring founding member/guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Liam Wilson, drummer Billy Rymer and guitarist James Love—has a rabid fan base, built through relentless touring over the past 15 years and five studio albums of some of the most genre-bending, mind-altering, über-technical “metal” the world has ever heard. While definitely heavy, the band’s sound isn’t easily categorized. Though many have attempted to label the band, Puciato merely says his band’s discography pivots around an insane amount of precision, passion and insanity/intensity that go into every one of Dillinger Escape Plan’s live shows.

The band is also scheduled to participate in Revolver Magazine’s Golden Gods Awards, a metal awards show, and will perform along with Stone Sour, Anthrax, Metallica and other heavy acts.

“Last year we were nominated and won—which was a surprise,” Puciato says. “We’re playing this show because it’s a cool opportunity to get in front of a more metal audience again. We’ve never played with Slayer or done Ozzfest or [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival]. And I feel like the traditional metal crowd knows the least about us. That’s kinda funny, since we’re considered a metal band but never spent much time catering to that tag. In fact, we ran against it deliberately so we would never get stuck because you never know—10 years ago we might want to sound like Portishead.”

In June, The Dillinger Escape plan is scheduled to perform at the Orion Music + More festival in Detroit, which features Metallica, Deftones and other marquee bands.

“Playing with Metallica is something I thought of as a kid,” Puciato says. “It was the end-all be-all at that time of my life . . . We’ve been doing this for many years now but we’re still humble and stoked to share the stage with Metallica.”

www.dillingerescapeplan.org

ON STAGE

Performing May 5 at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, and Music + More in Detroit.

Green Letter Date

Talk about perfect timing. The Dillinger Escape Plan is exhausted from its nearly perfect performance at the three-day New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, which took place on (wait for it) April 20. With that date in mind—plus a lineup that included Opeth, Katatonia, Terror, Hatebreed, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, Shadows Fall, Anthrax, Municipal Waste and Exodus—frontman Greg Puciato admitted more than one member of the band was thoroughly satisfied with that day, and that performance. “We couldn’t be happier to play this year; there were so many great metal bands all three days. Ten years ago we used to do a lot of metal shows like that then we tried to break out of that to avoid getting pigeonholed into being that type of metal band. But now it feels good to go back to play for those crowds again.”