The Dillinger Escape Plan (often called DEP or TDEP) is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The band originated in 1997 from the ashes of Arcane, which was, also, a hardcore punk band that only featured Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie.
The band's current line-up consists of Ben Weinman (lead guitar, vocals), Liam Wilson (bass guitar), Greg Puciato (vocals), Gil Sharone (drums, percussion), and Jeff Tuttle (rhythm guitar, vocals). The band is famous for their aggressive, technical style of hardcore punk, mathcore, which they helped pioneer. However, later releases like Miss Machine and Ire Works would move away from their traditional mathcore style and introduce a more experimental sound into their music.
After signing to a contract on a small, independent label Now or Never Records[2] the band released their self-titled EP, their first recordings. The band has released three major-label releases on Relapse Records; 1999's Calculating Infinity, 2004's Miss Machine, and 2007's Ire Works. The band is known for their wild, crazed, and personal live shows which often showcase Puciato stage-diving into the audience, fire breathing, and many other special effects into their concerts.
The band's ever-changing genre consists of metalcore, hardcore punk, jazz, and more recently, post-hardcore. Their debut album was aggressive mathcore, with later albums Miss Machine and Ire Works being more experimental than mathcore; even to the extent of All Music Guide labeling them as the "Radiohead of metalcore."
This change in genre creates much tense opinions between fans of the band. Many credit the band's older sound to Dimitri Minakakis, the band's old lead vocalist. However, nearly all of their albums have been critic favorites, with Calculating Infinity, Miss Machine, and Ire Works being featured on many Top 10 lists.
The Dillinger Escape Plan has gone through many line-up changes throughout its career. Dimitri Minakakis, the band's original vocalist, left after Calculating Infinity[4], and was replaced shortly by Faith No More and Mr. Bungle mastermind Mike Patton, before the band finding a permanent replacement in Greg Puciato.
Chris Pennie left for Coheed and Cambria shortly before the recording of Ire Works[6] and left Ben Weinman as the only remaining original member.
