In retrospect, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s One of Us is the Killer is potentially their most progressive album. We know, it’s a hot take, perhaps even a superfluous one – but maybe we can convince you with a twelve page essay sometime.
Oh, that doesn’t sound fun to you? Hmmm… we’re probably going to do it anyway. But maybe we don’t have to – how about this: until we get around to that, maybe this exclusive music video from Seven)Suns off their One Of Us is the Killer cover album will help change your mind?
We think it will, but you might need a breather after this cover – it’s more frightening than you might expect. Check out the exclusive video for the tribute’s title track below.
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For a string based project, you might have been expecting something less cacophonous, and were likely shocked to find something just as intense than the original record, perhaps even a little more. For that alone, you’ve got to applaud the folks in Seven)suns. Their spot with TDEP on the closing track of Dissociation, not to mention their collaborations with So Hideous, thoughtcrimes, and Imperial Triumphant are already impressive, but turning a deeply emotional mathcore journey into something that wouldn’t feel out of place as a horror movie soundtrack couldn’t have been an easy feat.
We could listen to any TDEP record at any time, but OOUITK is particularly spooky in terms of composition, and certain mixing choices that felt odd at first made for a long lasting impression that ultimately, once again, validated the band’s bold, boundary-bashing experiments. But throughout the course of the Seven)suns version, they turn every possible moment into a high-stakes game of ‘what’s that part,’ that leaves one as emotionally exhausted as any scene from The Exorcist. For instance, we’d say don’t sleep on this cut of “Understanding Decay,” but we know you won’t. It’s physically impossible with all that adrenaline it’s going to shoot into your veins, yet in an entirely different way than the original.
To bring things full circle, it’s also important to note that trying to trace TDEP’s artistic arc is somewhat of moot point, even if it is endless fun – yes, this is probably their most progressive album, but does it matter? There was never a moment they weren’t pushing the envelope, all the way up to the point they disbanded – if OOUITK wasn’t their most interesting post-apocolyptic aural hellscape before, these brutalist classical reconstructions will surely prompt many to reconsider. Even in this allegedly stripped down format, maximum mathematical punishment is delivered. Seven)Suns’ scholarly approach to the original arrangements reveal a number of rhythmic complexities that were previously obscured by TDEP’s permanently vitriolic approach, not that we’d go back and change anything about it.
They say that a sign of artistic brilliance is when the results are perceived, they can’t help but inspire creative results in their wake, and Seven)Suns have made an extremely strong case for this with their tribute to OOUITK. No one we know needs a refresher on how influential The Dillinger Escape Plan’s approach to music was, or how essential their model became to various scenes over the years. There will probably be TDEP math scholarships for certain colleges if they don’t exist already, but renditions like this ensure that their brilliance can transcend barriers of form and genre even further from beyond their figurative grave. We don’t know if the band will ever get back together, but that’s okay because even if they did, tributes like these offer proof that the band’s incredible legacy is already taking on a life of its own.
Like any day, really, we can tell it’s going to be one of those days – a perfect day to listen to the TDEP discography. And don’t worry, we know we just clarified that there’s really no need to debate their albums, but we’ll do it anytime. They’re all pretty great, but Seven)Suns picked the best one possible to create something that expertly blurs the lines between stunning tribute and highly original work of art. Check out the rest of the album here the Silent Pendulum Records page. Everyone have a good weekend and thanks to The Chain for hooking us up with the exclusive – coming up we’ve got Right Chipper, the next Not Another Fecking Gear Review, Kindofkind, and more. Thanks for reading!