Just before Christmas, I got absolutely obsessed with this mobile game called Beatstar – it plays a song, and you have to tap tiles as they slide down the screen in time to the music. As an aficionado of Guitar Hero and Rock Band back in the day, this very much scratches the same itch. And the music is a good mix of styles and genres, plenty of pop and rock and electronic music.
I mention this because my favourite song on Beatstar is the title track from this album – and on the strength of that song, I decided to check out the rest of the record it spawned from.
To be honest, I’m kind of surprised I didn’t check out Dillinger Escape Plan before now – their mix of high-speed heavy rock tightly composed, reminiscent of bands like Mars Volta and Mr Bungle and Killswitch Engage, is certainly up my alley.
That title track turns out not to be typical of the album as a whole, which is mostly – starting with frantic opener “Prancer” – fast and frenetic, and fairly relentless. That fast, jazz-infused style continues in second track “When I Lost My Bet”, then you get a little breather in the slower third title track, before things get brutally heavy in “Hero Of The Soviet Union”. Later, “Paranoia Shields” combines Patton-esque vocals with Mastodon-esque guitars to create a highlight of the record.
The musicianship impresses throughout, the group remaining extremely tight behind Greg Puciato’s impressive vocal work. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
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CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.