Option Paralysis

VINYL FORMAT. The LP comes with a bonus track, die-cut sleeve, and a digital download card! At first glance, Option Paralysis seems like a highly inappropriate title to describe the constantly evolving output of The Dillinger Escape Plan. But once you're faced with the cumulative power and vision of guitarist Ben Weinman, vocalist Greg Puciato, bassist Liam Wilson, guitarist Jeff Tuttle and new drummer Billy Rymer, you'll wonder - right after you pick yourself up off the floor - why more bands don't achieve similar force-of-nature status. From their early days in the late-'90s as short-haired Rutgers, New Jersey, college students delivering hyper-complex thrash to audiences of boorish long-haired surly metalheads, to performing with Nine Inch Nails on the pioneering electronic band's farewell shows, the Dillinger Escape Plan have merely one prerogative: to go forward in ALL directions simultaneously.

Option Paralysis marks the beginning of another trajectory in the DEP mythology. After aligning themselves with the renowned Relapse label for most of their career, the band entered into a deal with the French label Season of Mist to put out Option Paralysis, tagging their new Party Smasher Inc. label. Produced by Steve Evetts, Dillinger's new music is positively abundant with possibilities. Drummer Billy Rymer, whom Weinman describes as "young and hungry," now occupies the engine room that powers the band. Frontman Puciato has always had a knack with a bellow that could make reciting a grocery list seem like an exhortation to open the mouth of Hell. But hearing some of the lyrics on Paralysis, you can't positively determine if the singer is handing down indictments ("Farewell, Mona Lisa") or feeling emotionally wounded. "This record is concept driven but there is still a very emotional and personal aspect to his lyrics," says Weinman soberly. "He's going through transitional stages in his life right now." Nothing so eloquently supports that statement than the six and-a-half-minute "Widower," where the band are joined by veteran David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson for an aural excursion that incorporates piano-trio jazz, tender balladry and anthemic power. While there's no shortage of DEP plasma-balls on Paralysis ("Room Full Of Eyes," "Good Neighbor"), the band keep things fresh with the math-rock/free-jazz convergence of "I Wouldn't If You Didn't," the electro-tweaked "Chinese Whispers" and the closing "Parasitic Twins." The latter track sports lead vocals courtesy of guitarist Tuttle, as well as Beach Boys-styled harmonies and a major-key Weinman solo that's more Clapton (circa Derek and The Dominos) than calculus crush. Clearly, this is not your older brother's Dillinger Escape Plan.