Friday, April 9, 2010
By Austin Siegemund-Broka
Editor-in-Chief
Option paralysis is the feeling of receiving too much information to possibly make reasonable choices. Neurologist Oliver Sacks compared it to eating 20 pounds of liverwurst; others have likened it to trying to choose between 31 ice cream flavors.
Yet while the Dillinger Escape Plan’s new album is titled “Option Paralysis,” it disappoints listeners with its lack of innovation.
The New Jersey thrash metal quintet’s strategy has always been to bombard listeners with a stunning variety of song structures and styles, frequently switching genres and time signatures within songs. More recently, they’ve created chilling, one-of-a-kind pieces through studio production and unconventional instrumentation.
“Option Paralysis” marks a disappointing retreat from that creative drive, which was one of the characteristics that made DEP remarkable. Instead, the band mostly sticks to simple thrash, pounding listeners with short, pulverizing tracks and throwing in a few transparent and lackluster longer pieces.
Of course, being arguably the worst DEP album is kind of like being the shortest guy on the Lakers. By virtue of being a DEP production, it’s a solid, listenable metal album. Its main flaw is that it is nothing more, especially from a band that once shone for artistic integrity in its genre.
On their first three albums, “Calculating Infinity” in 2000, “Miss Machine” in 2004, and the spectacular “Ire Works” in 2007, DEP crafted thunderously complex song structures but also infused deep creative energy into their pieces. “Ire Works,” in particular, earned them a reputation as the “Radiohead of metal” for its blend of ominous, freeform soundscapes with intermittent rock bursts.
On “Option Paralysis,” the band seems to be either too shy or too lazy to seriously pursue artistic material. This is mainly a problem of production and mixing. Earlier tracks such as “Weekend Sex Change” and “Sick on Sunday” were deeply unsettling compositions, unnervingly unpredictable collages of gritty synthesizers, ambient swirling guitar and delicately complex beats.
By contrast, the more unconventional tracks on “Option” (“Widower” and “Parasitic Twins”) are more akin to simple, traditional rock than to usual DEP fare.
“Option” also fails in attempts to insert softer, more “creative” segments into traditional thrash pieces. When the blunt-force rock gives way to a slower part, the momentum on tracks like “Farewell, Mona Lisa” and “Room Full of Eyes” dissipates into dull simplicity.
Only once does the use of a more contemplative segment work: the standout track “I Wouldn’t If You Didn’t,” which slips from no-holds-barred rage into a delicate piano interlude and then slowly back into machine-gun thrash.
The best tracks, though, are those which take no such chances, instead pummeling listeners with two-minute bursts of wickedly complex metal. Some of the most satisfying tracks are those that last under three minutes (“Good Neighbor,” “Endless Endings” and “Crystal Morning”), which smash together skittering guitar lines and stuttering drumbeats with no regard for time signature or song structure.
These relentless thrashers are the album’s only upside, but even they are only par for the course with DEP. Such tracks on “Ire Works” (“Fix Your Face,” “Party Smasher” and “Lurch”) are just as wild and unconventional, hitting listeners with the same barrage of chaotic structure and high-speed, pounding instrumentation.
If DEP continues to abandon their more artistic and innovative compositions in favor of straight thrash and the occasional halfhearted stab at creativity, they will risk losing part of their musical foundation. It would be a shame for them to vanish into the crowd as just another member of the growing progressive metal movement, especially when it’s a movement they could well be leading.
“Option Paralysis” is available on iTunes and at most music retailers, but it is hardly worth more than a few bucks out of a fan’s pocket.
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