The Dillinger Escape Plan story begins eleven years ago in suburban, Northern New Jersey when Weinman, Pennie, Minikakis, Doll and Fulton got together to play the music they wanted to hear. An old cliche, yes, but the sounds racing and raging through the heads of these five was unlike anything metal or hardcore had heard previous and instead of settling for an approximation of what they were hearing internally, DEP pushed themselves to the limit, ensuring they played what they envisioned.

First, a self-titled EP; then the Under the Running Board EP, their Relapse debut and quite frankly the most unrestrained and invigorating seven minutes of your life. Calculating Infinity followed, an album that commanded, and still commands, respect and reverence from press and the public. It scored accolades from the moment it was released, obtaining a strong showing in Terrorizer magazine's top albums of the 90's, despite its September, 1999 release date and was recently inducted into Decibel magazine's Hall of Fame. After that, Irony is a Dead Scene, before the band's second album, Miss Machine, a diverse offering that tempered their complex sonic mathematics with stream-lined electronic-based compositions.

Ire Works comes on the heels of Pennie leaving to join the ranks of Coheed & Cambria. On the surface, this probably seems like an egregious, soul-ripping blow, one that could understandably be cause for some form of towel to be thrown in. Pennie was a founding member, Weinman's right-hand man in the song writing process and achieved respect from both the underground and mainstream drum world. Undaunted, DEP re-grouped with the dynamic Gil Sharone (Stolen Babies) manning the drum throne and have found themselves to be a more efficient machine than ever before. Those who've witnessed Sharone perform with Stolen Babies are well aware of his wealth of talent and ability to tackle diverse and complex styles. When Dillinger introduced Gil via a series of YouTube "webisodes" early last summer, it became obvious that Sharone would provide incredible stamina, a bricks-and-mortar backbone and be able to push the band's rapid fire rhythmic sense to new ridiculous heights.