The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis

The Dillinger Escape Plan’s fourth full-length, Option Paralysis, begins with ten second of near-silence before opener 'Farewell, Mona Lisa' kicks in. Ten seconds to wonder if this is the day that DEP has abandoned their true fans and will ride the wave of melodic vocals to fleeting mainstream success. Then, right when the suspense becomes too much, vocalist Greg Puciato screams out “Wash it down the drain” over suddenly-spastic guitars and drums, as if declaring the fate of all the doubts. The first track is a microcosm of Option Paralysis as a whole: traditional melody is a part of the mix, and really adds to the songs that feature it, but it only arrives after DEP have beat listeners down so hard that they can’t lift a finger to protest.To cover familiar ground first, DEP can still cram more finger-tapping and ridiculous drumming into two minutes than any band not named Converge. That compressed mix of changing time signatures and fleeting grooves is brought by 'Good Neighbor' and 'Crystal Morning' with the quality fans have come to expect. As well, such as during the latter half of 'Room Full of Eyes', things slow down enough to inspire some major headbanging. 'I Wouldn’t if you Didn’t' nearly fades out before building up to an incredibly heavy ending where Puciato repeatedly screams that “Suffering is love.”Even though drummer Billy Rymer still had that “new car” smell when DEP went into the studio to record, he gives a good account of himself as the complement to Ben Weinman (again) making a case for being one of the most talented guitarists on the scene these days. Weinman also puts his piano-playing skills to use on 'Widower', which progresses from a jazzy beginning to a well-sung, tension-building middle section to a climactic final declaration of “I couldn’t hold onto / The things that matter to you.” Looking past the concerns of others leads to the experimental moments on this record, such as 'Widower', and those separate it from previous DEP releases.Since Nine Inch Nails covers are a staple of DEP set lists, it’s not surprising that 'Parasitic Twins' sounds like DEP’s attempt to record a B-side for The Fragile. As the album closer, the song highlights Puciato’s voice: the man has always shown more range than his predecessor, Dimitri Minakakis, but Option Paralysis also shows growth.This album is also a step forward for the band, if not a lightyear jump. Considering their genre-defining previous albums, history tells us that the most obvious leap would be to make a DEP-flavored Black Album, and that road wisely remains untaken. Instead, this album features a band that knows what works for them and are cautiously seeking out less-obvious directions for the future. This self-aware band has created another amazing album that should do nothing but increase their fanbase and (hopefully) inspire enough pride to keep them making music for a long time.

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