The Dillinger Escape Plan’s (DEP) latest album—their fourth and first for the Season Of Mist label—continues to show the band’s progression away from having a sound comprised solely of blistering, technical metal. But, in that sense, it seems like they haven’t made many substantive changes from their 2007 release, Ire Works. While there is less electronic influence, the rest of the album is comprised of a combination of bursts of precision guitar work, Greg Puciato’s screams that segue into his Mike Patton-esque sung vocals (or vice versa), and slower, mellow moments. There is still intensity behind the band and some nice swing to some of the music; the kind of stuff that would make you get up and dance (slam or otherwise). And yet, in spite of the strength of the performance, there is nothing that blitzes my senses like when I first heard 2004’s Miss Machine. As much as is possible for DEP, Option Paralysis seems “safe,” but that’s not to say it’s not a solid release with great musicianship. For the first few releases of their career, the band was pushing boundaries so much that it seems that they’re left with nowhere to go except to become a more modern, technical-metal influenced version of Nine Inch Nails or Faith No More. And I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that.
–kurt (Season-of-mist.com)