Dillinger Escape Plan’s “Calculating Infinity”
It’s difficult for me to articulate my thoughts on “Calculating Infinity” by The Dillinger Escape Plan. The closest description comes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in its vivid description of the alcoholic beverage, the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. Listening to this album is like "having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.” The drink’s creator, Zaphod Beeblebrox, states: “never drink more than two Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters unless you are a thirty ton mega elephant with bronchial pneumonia.” My advice: Never listen to “Calculating Infinity” twice in one sitting unless you are a thirty ton mega elephant with bronchial pneumonia.
“The cosmos is about the smallest hole a man can hide his head in.”
“Calculating Infinity” by The Dillinger Escape Plan is one of the most unbelievable albums I’ve ever heard. It was released in 1999 and quickly made waves in the punk and metal scenes. It is an indescribably brutal display of ordered chaos. It is music that will defy you the more you try to understand it. Most surprisingly to me as a guitarist, as heavy as the songs sound, the band uses 6-string guitars and 4-string basses in standard tuning.
I remember reading in a Pantera tablature book that the band never really played in a “key” and that key signatures in the notation weren’t very helpful. The songs on “Calculating Infinity” also fit that description. Most songs don’t center around diatonic scales or keys, either. After listening to “Calculating Infinity” several times, I’m not sure if there are actual time signatures. It’s extremely difficult to decipher without just “feeling” your way through it. This was the first album I’d ever heard where the energy had so transcended the music, and the musicianship is undeniably prodigious. You don’t have to like this album, but you can’t ignore it.
I’m reminded of this meme that says, “Name one thing in this photo.” When I listen to “Calculating Infinity,” it’s difficult to identity time signatures, chords, key signatures, and other typical handholds I can latch on to while listening. And nothing lasts. The moment I thought I could “get it,” the band had moved on to something else. Unlike some previous jaw-dropper episodes where I can talk about the music, I feel like I can only talk about other things that remind me of this music because it’s so difficult to articulate.
Any long-time fan of this channel has likely seen my fascination with rhythm and music that’s difficult to count. The opening track, “Sugar Coated Sour,” is incomprehensible. It feels like getting sucked into a tornado. I first found out about the album when a friend sent me a video of the band performing the song at a Virgin Megastore location and the singer runs off the stage and onto the crowd, stepping on people’s heads and hands to make his way to the back and crowdsurf back to the stage. The audience actually throws him back on the stage and he doesn’t even land on his feet, then he gets back to screaming his way through the music. It was shocking, and the audience was into it.
The music in the video was controlled chaos. Then they went into this jazz thing and I was like, “Wait--What is this?” The drumming was top-notch. The guitaring was reckless. I’d never seen a band perform like this. And the singer was removed from the show by mall security. So, I picked up the album and listened straight through. It was more than everything I could have expected.
The second track, “43% Burnt,” feels like a punch straight through the eyes. It goes from total screamo metal to a clean King Crimson “Discipline” thing, changing tempos and time signatures with no effort. Five minutes into this album, the audio engineer inside me is thinking, “How did they record this?” There’s jazz, fusion, prog, metal, neoclassical shred, and even some synths in this song. Then there’s the lyrics:
I want to knock you off your horse
I just feel it
Everything's fine
Spit on yourself
You're so beautiful
Spit on yourself
So beautiful
The third song, “Jim Fear,” has fast, arpeggiated guitars with half-step harmonies. Yeah--Two guitars playing half a step apart. I mean, seriously, when I first heard this song I thought, “How is this even possible?” This is a band unafraid of any musical idea. There are no wrong notes. There is no time signature too “out there.” There is no need for a key. The music is about the energy, the intensity, the insanity. It’s not about Bach or Led Zeppelin or Duke Ellington or John Coltrane. This is a band blazing its own trail.
Nearly every track on this album is notable. I could go track-by-track, but I won’t. Hopefully, this has given you a sense of what you’ll expect and why the album is just terrifying.
Speaking of terrifying, check out their live performance videos, including the “crazy moments compilation” video or the golden gods show where the singer intentionally cuts his head open, lets blood run down his face throughout the performance, spits blood on the crowd, breathes fire on stage, and destroys the drum kit while it’s being played to close the last song. Or their final show where he jumps about 20-30 feet off a venue’s balcony and onto the crowd on the ground floor. All these antics while performing the most ridiculous complex music. This band is like musical hell on earth and they’re truly astounding.
Also, be sure to check out their EP with Mike Patton called “Irony is a Dead Scene.” It’ll either be the shortest 18 minutes of your life, or the longest.
If “Calculating Infinity” has had a profound impact on you, I’d love to read about that in the comments. And please share this video on social media to tell your friends that this music exists, that it’s beyond understanding, and that you enjoy it.
