'I Never Had Any Intention Of Doing This Again': The Unexpected Return Of The Dillinger Escape Plan

When New Jersey mathcore outfit The Dillinger Escape Plan walked offstage at New York City's Terminal 5 on December 29th, 2017, it's fair to say the band hadn't expected any sort of repeat engagement.

That show marked the third of three sold-out farewell gigs at the venue, with the group having previously stated they had reached "what felt like a thematic conclusion to our band."

For fans, this was deeply disappointing news. After all, their 20-year legacy as one of the most incendiary, arresting, and ferocious live bands of all time would be coming to an end, putting to bed the story of one of the most iconic bands in the mathcore genre.

However, while The Dillinger Escape Plan's members would eventually begin work on other projects, 2022 brought with it the unexpected news that the band were back, albeit with a different frontman.

Indeed, The Dillinger Escape Plan had reunited with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis to perform material from their earliest years. Now, almost two years on, more shows have followed and the group will be hitting up Australian shores in August.

As founding guitarist Ben Weinman explains to The Music, the unexpected resurgence of Dillinger might be surprising to fans, but for the band, it sort of makes perfect sense.

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"It's been 25 years since we recorded our first album, Calculating Infinity," Weinman begins. "And I've remained really good friends with Dimitri throughout the years, but I didn't really get to share all the rites of passage and all the amazing things that this band went through with him."

Weinman and Minikakis co-founded the group back in early 1997 alongside rhythm guitarist Derrick Brantley, bassist Adam Doll, and drummer Chris Pennie. While Weinman has remained the only consistent member throughout the band's line ups, Minakakis would serve as vocalist for their 1997 self-titled EP, their Under The Running Board EP from 1998, and 1999's Calculating Infinity.

Minakakis would leave the group in 2001, and while Faith No More and Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton would briefly step in, they found their replacement soon after by way of Greg Puciato. However, this somewhat uncertain line up the group experienced in those early days was likely underscored by the slight disappointment that Minakakis wasn't able to share in what he had helped create.

"To be able to play these songs with him now as adults, as more mature people, and as more seasoned musicians, it's pretty cool, to be quite frank," Weinman admits. "It's cool to see him up there when the last time we played together we were probably playing in a basement or something.

"We played these songs throughout our entire career with Greg and stuff like that, so to hear Dimitri actually sing the lyrics he wrote is pretty amazing."

When The Dillinger Escape Plan wrapped up proceedings in 2017, they had offered fans a surprise by way of their final shows. Those last two dates also featured Minakakis back on deck, performing a handful of those early tracks he co-wrote, though most would have just assumed it was set to be a one-and-done affair.

Weinman himself was one of those people who thought the group's story wouldn't extend past 2017, having been content to leave the past dead and buried.

"I'm not mentioning names, but there were people in the band who walked off that stage already thinking about 'When are we doing the reunion,'" he recalls. "I certainly did not feel that – I wanted to end the band.

"Doing three shows in a row was so great because it gave us the chance to leave no stone unturned. I felt like I walked off that stage completely satisfied. I was really happy with our final album, between those three shows, I feel like I achieved and played everything I wanted to play.

"There really wasn't one feeling of regret or anything; it really felt perfect. It was like walking off into the sunset with no regrets and feeling ready to just start a new life.

"I never had any intention of doing this again, and I certainly didn't think I'd be doing it with Dimitri and doing this album like we did," he adds. "But it does make sense and it does feel really good to do that."

It was in June 2024 that the band made their return, having been asked previously to reunite as part of a festival. The reunion was to take place in celebration of Calculating Infinity's 25th anniversary, with Weinman explaining that the request piqued their interest given that the suggestion of bringing Minakakis back into the fold was floated too.

"It was sort of interesting 'cause it was different than what we had ended the band with," he explains. "It was something that felt like it wasn't fully realised. There was still something that felt undone there.

"But there was no way that we could have been ready to play this festival – none of us had talked about playing and or had tried playing this music in years."

After chatting to the group's agent, it was decided that a series of appearances in honour of their debut's anniversary would undoubtedly be the best move. With Minakakis back on deck, there was the question as to whether Puciato had been consulted in any way. "Quite frankly, it's a touchy subject," Weinman admits.

"I will say this music that I and we made with Greg will probably be the best music I ever make in my life. As a creative counterpart, I couldn't have asked for anyone better.

"Getting my songs that I wrote and sending them off to him and then getting them back with the stuff he did on them was like being able to be a fan of my own music," he adds. "Hearing it back and seeing how he just got better and better and better with every album, he just got better and better and better at what he was doing.

Since The Dillinger Escape Plan's split, Puciato has been active as a solo artist, in addition to performing with Killer Be Killed, The Black Queen, and Better Lovers. As a result, he and Weinman haven't managed to cross paths since.

"It was truly a pleasure and a privilege to make music together, but that said, we haven't talked since 2018," Weinman notes. "He just has a different life. He lives a different life. Um.

"We hang out with different people, we have different – to be honest – different values, and it's not a really good match anymore. So this really was something that just had nothing really to do with him.

"I don't think we would've ever done a reunion with him, and again, we really did what we needed to do," he adds. "So this was truly just a Calculating Infinity-specific type of thing."

It's rare for artists to be given a chance to go out on top. A recent example of Ozzy Osbourne is a fine instance of a musician going out on their own terms, and even LCD Soundsystem capped off their career perfectly when they played a series of New York City farewell shows in 2011.

However, the latter's eventual comeback has led to some claims that a perfect conclusion was ruined by future activities. Given that The Dillinger Escape Plan seemed to end their career on good terms, one could worry about a similar ruination of their reputation.

By his own admission, Weinman notes that while he and his bandmates have been professional touring musicians for most of their lives, Minakakis hasn't. These days, Weinman also performs as a member of Suicidal Tendencies, and bassist Liam Wilson is a member of In Flames, but there was a sense of the unknown when it came to kicking off another series of shows.

"It feels just as visceral, it feels really honest, and I do feel the same passion and we feel the same explosive energy and uninhibited expression that we always felt," he admits. "When this music started, it was like, 'Oh my God, we're back.'

"It was like, 'I'm not just a dude from New Jersey, I'm the Dillinger Escape Plan dude.' It feels so good that Dillinger can take you over like that."

Interestingly, Weinman notes that the only real disappointment that this reunited version of the band has brought with it is the severely limited amount of material which they can play.

After all, while Calculating Infinity only has 11 tracks (one of which is used as walk-on music), they only add in music from the three-track Under The Running Board EP, with their self-titled EP rarely getting a look-in. With Puciato on deck, there was a total of five full-length albums on offer, while they also occasionally dipped into the original era.

"It was fun to have such a large catalogue to choose from when we ended the band, and having all different kinds of dynamics and different kinds of songs to play," he explains. "But the music we're playing is really from one era of the band and is really pretty aggressive and pretty nuts.

"And that's how it was when we started, so it's interesting to feel like that again. We just played a big festival and there was a ton of people there – some people who came because they saw us back in the day and this music means something to them in that time in their life, and there's people who got into this band many years later and never got to see us in this form, and they were excited to see it.

"Then there were people who were like, 'I've heard of this band, but what is this?'" he adds. "And they're looking at us like aliens, like, 'What is going on up there? What are these dudes doing?'

"That's what I remember it was like when we started. So it is interesting to have a lot of the feelings of how it was when we first came out and had to play in front of a pack of wild wolves, a bunch of music that was very intentionally jarring and unmarketable."

When it comes to the material played in those early days, Weinman has never been too far from it. After all, the Calculating Infinity track 43% Burnt is their most-played song live, with the Under The Running Board EP's The Mullet Burden also ranking quite highly.

But to be revisiting this material in the manner it was originally penned, with the original vocalist who sang on the track, is an intriguing situation Weinman hadn't foreseen. If anything, it's provided him a chance to craft a new relationship with his older creations.

"When I was learning this stuff again, I was simultaneously annoyed that I had to learn this music as an adult, because it was like, 'What was I thinking?'" he explains. "'What is going on here? I can't even play this.'

"But I was also really, really proud of myself that I wrote music like this. I mean, I was so young and we were so ambitious. It's really hard to even think of a 21-year-old writing an album like this in this day and age with no computers, no Pro Tools, no Drumkit From Hell, no amp simulators, no cutting and pasting – just straight to tape, and just playing with no click track.

"It's kind of amazing to just think of young me making this album," he muses. "It's really amazing to think of just how advanced the album still feels even 25 years later."

The first time that The Dillinger Escape Plan found themselves in Australia was in 2004 – just a few months short of the release of Miss Machine, the first album to feature Puciato on vocals.

Since then, the band's return visits have been consistent and regular, albeit up until their final trip just weeks ahead of their final shows. With more than 50 shows on local shores, the group have managed to craft a solid relationship with the country. "It's kind of a home away from home," Weinman admits.

"When people ask me, 'You've seen everywhere, where would you want to live?' I always say, 'If it wasn't so fucking far away from my family and friends, no contest, Australia.'

It feels so welcoming. There's so many of the comforts of home, but yet there's so much interesting culture that's different as well. The music community there is just very loyal to interesting and weird music. I remember hearing about you guys having music on the radio that would never ever be on the radio here, and bands like Mr. Bungle charting.

"But Australia just felt really great," he adds. "The fans and the music listeners are just super wild, super passionate, and we always look forward to it. And I'm really looking forward to doing this with Dmitri there."

In fact, the tour will be Minakakis' first time performing in Australia, though even words like "tour" should be somewhat limited when it comes to discussing the current run of shows from The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Previously, Weinman had made it clear he does "not want to tour with this band," instead ensuring that any contemporary shows by the band are viewed as "special events" instead.

However, with a big trek down to Australian shores, it's a little hard to avoid labelling the visit as a tour. But it does lead into the question; what does the future hold? There likely won't be new music, but will we see the group continue in this format, or shall we just be grateful for what we do receive?

"It's kind of a situation where we're going where people want us, and we want everyone who wants to see it to see it, and we're enjoying it," Weinman explains. "The closest thing to a tour is really this Australia thing because you don't go that far and play one show; it's just not worth it.

"We've mostly been doing a show or two here or there, and we enjoy it. We're all doing other bands. I'm in Suicidal Tendencies, Liam's in In Flames, and we're all doing other bands, and then we come together, we get to celebrate this together, and we have a good time.

"If there's places that want to see it and it makes sense, we go do it. That's really where we're at. "

Tickets to The Dillinger Escape Plan's Australian tour are on sale now.