This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If you took sci-fi speed demons Voivod, force-fed them diet pills and pots of espresso — and then set their hair on fire — they might play with half the frenzied ferocity that erupts from New Jersey avant-metal quintet Dillinger Escape Plan’s debut album Calculating Infinity.
Dissonant blast-furnace riffs, punishing jackhammer drums, dentist-drill guitar lines and lung-searing vocals closer to Sam Kinison than Sam Cooke are all arc-welded here into infinitely elaborate works that ignore musical rules, zipping from Zappa-esque prog-rock to jazz fusion to death metal to noise rock with lightning-fast precision. Without a doubt, this is the most intellectual metal album of the year. But don’t be fooled; it’ll still rip off the top of your skull and gnaw your brain like a zombie pit bull. Escape? Forget it, bub.
