sambroblog. A Blog. With words. And maybe pictures.

Periphery/Maylene/Dillinger Concert

Went to the Hi-Fi last night to see Dillinger Escape Plan play, with Periphery and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster supporting.

Periphery kicked off, I've been listening to their album a lot the past week or two, as a result I was pretty much going to the concert for them more than Dillinger (as I've seen Dillinger play before). I was not disappointed, from the moment the curtains drew and Jake Bowen flips his guitar over and implores us for weed with a sign made out of duct tape: "Need Weed". The played an amazing set - I was worried that the magic that is their music might be nothing more than some amazing mixing on the album (which you need to go buy right now, btw). This fear was quashed as soon as they exploded into their first song (I honestly can't remember which they played first). When they started playing Light as their second song I was lost in a frenzy of neck spasms. True story. The only thing that made me sad about their set was the distinct lack of a crowd - being the opening band of course a lot of people are going to be stupid and come late to see Dillinger, but there was a lot of people just standing around and not giving an amazing band the support they deserve. Hopefully next time they come to Australia they're greeting with a far more energetic crowd.

Maylene & the Sons of Disaster are a band I listened to a little a couple of weeks ago (to get a feel for them). I have to admit, I didn't really like their albums much, but they played a pretty engaging set. The mosh was pretty full-on all the way throughout too - though I didn't join them, saving myself for Dillinger and stuffs

Maylene trudged off the stage and the wait for Dillinger began. Their soundcheck took a while, as did Maylene's, so they ended up starting about 20 minutes late. By the time the curtains opened to Dillinger, with Jeff Tuttle predictably perched on an amp stack, the crowd was pretty pumped. They opened with Panasonic Youth, and within 3 minutes I was drenched in sweat and totally ballistic. I'm not even going to bother trying to paint the picture of a Dillinger set in words, it's something you need to experience to believe. Needless to say, it's probably one of the most energetic, chaotic, unpredictable shows you'll ever see.

Greg was in top form, spending more time singing while leaning into the crowd than on stage. Having been in the mosh, I was thankfully not in the particular area that Greg decided to dive into several times. He is one big dude, I'm not sure how I'd do having 90kg of muscle and lungs landing on me. At the end he crowd surfed over me, and that was intense enough.

Ben Weinman's frenetic guitaring was truly a sight to behold. That guy is just a machine. I was near him most of the set and it was just insane watching him go up and down the fretboard like some kind of possessed lunatic. I actually had no idea, but Ben plays the piano now... They played Mouth of Ghosts and he switched to piano for that song, I have no idea if he composed the original piano stuff on that song, but he played it nonetheless. Unfortunately as soon as they begun the song they discovered there was something majorly wrong with the piano ... It sounded bizarre the whole song ... Was a little disappointing.

Billy Rymer is just unbelievable. Playing stuff from the earlier albums (Sugar Coated Sour, 43% Burnt, The Mullet Burden, When Good Dogs Do Bad Things) to the more recent stuff on Miss Machine and Ire Works, along with his own frenzied percussion on Option Paralysis. He covered the work of two drumming predecessors with ease, making it look like he could do it in his sleep.

The crowd was a lot of fun, with plenty of burly drunk 30-somethings throwing their weight around and crushing me into a pulp. On more than one occasion, some retard behind me grabbed a scruff of hair at the back of my head and rammed my head forwards, ripped it backwards, rammed it forwards, in some kind of weird attempt to make me headbang. Besides the fact that this kinda hurt and I can't really move my neck properly right now, I was quite offended! I was headbanging uncontrollably most of the night! Dumbass drunks.

The set ended with Ben Weinman slamming his guitar into the drum-kit repetitively, and Greg grabbed a piece of said drumkit and started throwing it around the stage. Band exits. Just another Dillinger set.

But wait! Just before the curtains close, Greg comes back out, grabs a mic and thanks us for being such an awesome crowd. Damn straight.

Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis

Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

After listening to Dillinger Escape Plan's latest album, Option Paralysis, on repeat for the past week, I felt it necessary to write my own little review of it. Here goes.

Yeah. They still got it.

Seriously. This album kills. There seems to be some comments made by some *real* reviewers that feel Dillinger hasn't really expanded much musically. That has to be the dumbest thing I've heard. From the brutal crescendo in the second half of "Good Neighbour", to the explosive intro from "Crystal Mornings", to the piano/synth driven "Widower", to the pop-friendly "Parasitic Twins", and then back to crazy headbang-able goodness on "Chinese Whispers" - this is not a rehash of previous Dillinger material.

Really though, when has Dillinger ever sounded like previous-Dillinger? They exploded on the scene with Calculating Infinity, which was pure jazz/metal-genre-crossover-wankery, then proceeded to release Miss Machine 5 years later, which contained blatant pop songs like "Unretrofied" with works of musical voodoo like "Panasonic Youth". 3 years later, Ire Works is released; again with radio friendly ditties like "Black Bubblegum" and "Milk Lizard" sharing the same track list as scorching metal magic like "Party Smasher". Clearly, this is a band that doesn't give a shit what their fans or critics have to say about their style or direction.

Anyway, I digress. Option Paralysis is another genre-defying masterpiece delivered by a band who makes their ridiculous blend of jazz, metal, punk and pop look so easy a child with no limbs, eyes or ears could do it. Sadly, exploding onto the scene and setting the stage with Farewell, Mona Lisa is going to scare most people away. That's fine, they can listen to their Lady GaGa and continue to tell all their friends how their musical tastes span "kinda just like anything really".

Ben Weinman continues to outdo himself when it comes to guitar work on Dillinger albums, this album is definitely no exception. The new drummer Billy Rymer is some kind of acoustic DEMON who looked like 17 when I saw him playing with Dillinger live the February of last year. Honestly, I can't help but wonder if Billy is Chris Pennie's evil clone that just didn't grow as old or bald.

Of special note on this album is Greg Puciato, who I now refer to as Greg Patton. Yes, I just likened Greg Puciato to the one and only Mike Patton. You only need to listen all the way through Option Paralysis once to understand why. His range of screams is impressive yes, but it's when he breaks into soft crooning and falsetto vocals (sometimes in the same breath like in Room Full of Eyes, that moment is my all-time fav on this album) that you truly understand how impressive his vocal skills have become.

Great album. Buy it, kgo.

Seeing these guys live at the end of May. I am preparing my mind, body and soul to get TOTALLY DESTROYED in the mosh supporting one of my all-time favourite bands. Cannot wait!

DILLINGER ESCAPE AWESOME

So, one of my all-time favourite bands, the almighty Dillinger Escape Plan, is releasing a new album titled "Option Paralysis". It's set to be released near the end of this month.

I've known about it for a couple of months, saw a couple of cool little vids on their Youtube channel. The soundbites of their tracking sessions sounded BRUTAL, I was already pumped after the little teasers they posted. Now they have a full track from the new album released - "Farewell, Mono Lisa". It sounds FANTASTIC, kind of like a blend between their Miss Machine and Ire Works stuff. After hearing some of Greg Puciato's clean vocals in his work with Spylacopa, I was really looking forward to hearing more of it with DEP. Looks like my wish was granted.

Cannot wait for this album to come out!