After almost two decades it’s the final curtain call for notoriously batshit mathcore pioneers The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their global trail of mass destruction comes to an explosive close with their sixth studio album ‘Dissociation’, and at what can arguably be said to be the height of their career, they’re going to be a hard act to part with.

The album kicks off in unsurprising fashion with the mental and massive ‘Limerent Death’, packed full of brutal intricacy and erratic time signature changes that are startlingly complex. ‘Symptom Of A Terminal Illness’ steps back from the madness momentarily as vocalist Greg Puciato takes a break from his raw screams and displays his dark, brooding and talented cleans.

We’re spat back into the chaos with ‘Wanting Not So Much To As To’, driven by Billy Rymer’s insanely paced attack behind the drum kit. It’s also worth noting TDEP’s ability to dip in and out of, well, whatever the hell they want, as becomes obvious with the dark electronic soundscape of ‘Fugue’.

The volatile changes of ‘Low Feels Blvd’ are mind boggling as we’re thrown from mathcore to jazz infusions, while ‘Nothing To Forget’ sees Puciato create an antonymic misbalance with his snarling screams and somehow soothing singing. Closing with the orchestral landscape of title track ‘Dissociation’, a somewhat melodic and slow ending seems fitting as the curtain sadly draws on their final album.

‘Dissociation’ is a righteous but bittersweet goodbye to a genuinely unique band. It’s a nice touch that TDEP haven’t tried to create something ground breaking (let’s face it, they’ve already done that) or career topping for their finale, but rather stick to what they do best. If this really is the end for The Dillinger Escape Plan, they’re going out on a high note.

5/5

‘Dissociation’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan is released on October 14th on Party Smasher Inc./Cooking Vinyl.

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Words by Phoebe Messenger (@kangaezu_ni)