Album Review: The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer

Worshipped in metal circles, frequently touted for bigger things; it's getting harder to sell The Dillinger Escape Plan outside their core demographic. Brutal? For sure. Innovative? You know it. Likely to feature on the shopping list of your average triple j listener? As if. There lurks a very real danger that this might be filed away as “another” DEP album; another challenging tide of tech-metal to be consigned to the vast metal dungeon where only the thoroughly initiated dare tread. This must never happen.

One Of Us Is The Killer does not set a new standard in controlled aggression as Miss Machine did. It does not feature the three-steps-ahead-of-everyone-else experimentation that Ire Works did either. The changes since their last album Operation Paralysis are more subtle; more evolution than revolution. Whilst ....Killer features all of the technical chops, razor tight execution and visceral energy that has turned their live performances into carnivals of devastation, tracks like Paranoia Shields and Crossburner showcase the DEP's newfound capacity to smoothly switch gears, not just between mathematically challenging time signatures, but moods and atmospheres. Their compositional skills have never been finer. Although monster-muscled singer Puciato is still prone to the occasional semi-sensical, Tourette's-driven meltdown, numerous songs here actually resemble, well, songs – with verses and choruses that could make their way onto daytime playlists if given the chance. If any cult metal band's record deserves a big push this year; it's this one, as the DEP stand at the peak of their evolution.