Ear-piercing noise? Check. Furious fretboard noodling?
Check. Glittery pop choruses? Um, huh?

Yes, that's right, folks, New Jersey's resident musical
maniacs the Dillinger Escape Plan are at it again, and, on their newest
full-length effort, Ire Works, they throw down another intricate puzzle
for listeners to construct.

Ire Works seems to pick up where 2004's
genre-blurring Miss Machine left off. The new release is a twisted tour
through the worlds of jazz theory, rock and electronica, heavily draped in the
band's patented brand of blistering, complex hardcore. It's a crazy ride, and
it's not without speed bumps.

The album begins promisingly with "Fix Your Face" and
"Lurch," a pair of tracks underscoring the band's typical flurries of dissonant
guitar riffs, both interrupted sporadically by deft drum and bass interludes.

But things hit a snag when "Black Bubblegum" shows up. As
its title suggests, this is Dillinger's take on pop music, but its results are
less than impressive. Throughout most of Ire Works, lead singer Greg
Puciato's versatile vocal style fits in appropriately with the sound the band
has crafted. He can bellow and shriek with the best of them and carry a solid
melody, but in the case of "Black Bubblegum," his fluttering falsetto might be
better suited for inebriated nights at the karaoke bar belting out Jeff Buckley
tunes.

 Instrumentally
speaking, Ire Works is an impressive showcase of each band member's
individual talents, but the album is ultimately anchored in Ben Weinman's guitar
work. His consistent ability to shred is evident on more punishing tracks like
"Milk Lizard" and "Dead as History," while his knack for channeling the warm,
colorful tones of axe-master Al Di Meola is highlighted in the jazzier moments
of songs like "Party Smasher."

Drummer Gil Sharone proves to be a more than adequate
replacement for the recently departed Chris Pennie, who ditched Dillinger for a
full-time gig with popsters Coheed and Cambria. Sharone, formerly of
experimental '90s rock outfit Fishbone, manhandles his kit with machine
precision, and his masterful rhythms start, stop and topple over one another
with frightening ease.

The latter half of Ire Works steps back toward more
traditional Dillinger fare and finds the band incorporating miscellaneous
stringed instruments and glitchy electronics into the mix. It ends with the
haunting "Mouth of Ghosts," a seven-minute sprawl of delicate piano work and
drum play paired with Puciato's soaring vocals.

Occasionally, Ire Works' flow is interrupted by an
oddly placed track like "Sick on Sunday," but "Black Bubblegum" is the only
real stain marring an otherwise solid album.

Yet, it's hard to avoid looking at Ire Works without
seeing it as Miss Machine, disc No. 2. It's more polished than Machine
was, but the band seems to have traveled more sideways than forward, and Ire
Works doesn't exist in its own universe like Machine and 1999's Calculating
Infinity were able to.

But overall, Ire Works is another impressive
effort from these Jersey boys as they once again prove that they are light
years ahead of most of their heavy music contemporaries in terms of musical
dexterity and concept. Regardless of the direction the band takes next, Ire Works makes it clear that Dillinger
Escape Plan is headed somewhere as impressive as it is bizarre.