Despite my familiarity with this band – I’ve listened to all of their Puciato albums now that I’ve heard this one, as well as their debut, and I’ve seen them live – I always have the same experience when I listen to one of their (Puciato) records: I like it less than the ones that I already know. This is simply because Dillinger are, um, inaccessible. Even if you already know what to expect, their records take time. Moreover, with this one, I’m giving my listens months apart meaning I kind of forgot it a bit in the interim.

Because I love this band, I really like this album. That’s basically a given. Where I always struggle with albums of theirs that are new to me is how much I like it in relation to the other records. And I’ve approached this band in a weird way, listening to the various albums completely out of order. For me to really judge this record, I’ll have to listen to everything from Ire Works to Dissociation in a row.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll say that, at least, initially, I like it less than Ire Works because it’s less bonkers, but you could also argue it’s a little more mature. (I don’t always like “more mature”, it sort of depends upon my mood.) And because I know it less well than the latter albums, I like those more just due to familiarity. So my feeling is to go with the consensus that this is the weakest Puciato-era album.

But that suggests this record isn’t good. And it’s also totally because I am just more familiar with their other records, and so it feels very unfair. (And possibly wrong.) So, to reiterate: I like this record. I just don’t know how much I like it in relation to their other albums.

7/10?

Read my reviews of albums released in 2010. Or, check out all my Dillinger Escape Plan reviews.