The Dillinger Escape Plan have become an institution in today's hardcore/metal field, documenting a previously incomprehensible form of extreme music that deals with mathematics and jazz as often as blast beats and breakdowns. Though their reign over the tech. metal ranks is well-known, the group has always exuded a certain desire to be more than just a heavy music band, but have had few chances to act outside of the box. Dimitri Minakakis' limitations as a vocalist kept the group firmly entrenched within the hardcore/metal foxhole, even in spite of their inclinations towards free-form jazz and more experimental scales. The inclusion of the ever-influential Mike Patton in the vocalist spot on 2002's much lauded "Irony Is A Dead Scene" EP allowed the band to take some liberties musically, expanding their phenomenal talents outside of the atypical boundaries set for heavy metal. Unfortunately Patton's superstar weight relegated the band to positions of support rather than true peers. Still maintaining their placement as the most imposing of the new breed of intelligent hardcore/metal though, these four men have finally found one worthy of complementing their powerful musical display, as newcomer Greg Puciato's schizophrenic vocal chords look to be the final cog installed on "Miss Machine".

Greg Puciato has been a full-fledged member of the group since late 2001 yet this is effectively his coming out party, as the vast majority of listeners will hear him for the first time. The godlike status given to the group throughout the underground scene and beyond make such a task rather intimidating yet he handles the position with finesse and remarkable skill. Puciato's caustic elasticity behind the microphone is aggressively charming yet boyishly immature in nature, as he even howls and bleats with a certain child-like joy. He wears his influences on his sleeve for all to see, as his affinity for Trent Reznor and the aforementioned Mike Patton are unequivocally obvious, yet he is unashamed of not only borrowing their trademark styles but embellishing them with ribald intensity at every opportunity.

The increase in technological enhancements seems fitting given the album's title, as the occasional assembly line squeal and gear-shift continues to blur the line. In turn it becomes almost a game figuring out where the band themselves cease and the machines begin. Indeed the symmetry between man and machine is always present when The Dillinger Escape Plan is involved, as their technical merit is matched by scant few and surpassed by none; leaving the advanced sample placement to thicken the 'futuristic carnival' atmosphere with breath-taking results. The fascination with time signatures, discordant intricacies and mind-numbing cross-rhythms is a constant, and yet there is a Mr. Bungle-esque eccentricity about such proceedings that is unavoidable. It goes to say that Patton's influence has worn off on each musician, yet rather than copy they have learned and instilled such originality into their own designs.

Despite their career successes and musical advances over the years, the band has never been able to shine as brightly as is witnessed on "Miss Machine". Though Faith No More's "King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime", nine inch nails' "Pretty Hate Machine" and Mr. Bungle's "California" all come to mind when experiencing "Miss Machine"; these five men have made a masterpiece that could be held against any of the three, one that is as exciting the fiftieth spin as it is on its second. By infusing their polyrhythmic complexities with newcomer Greg Puciato's multi-faceted vocal mannerisms, The Dillinger Escape Plan have eclipsed their past achievements, successfully blending the technical and abrasive with the catchy, memorable quirkiness of a vocalist extraordinaire in training. This confidence is fitting for a group as dominant in their profession as The Dillinger Escape Plan, and while it remains unclear whether or not Puciato's singing ability ranges beyond such loose similarities, he has enabled this quintet to thrust itself into a new direction as challenging, as frightening, and as compelling as any in their past.

In doing so, The Dillinger Escape Plan have not only taken one of the most unlikely musical styles and somehow turned it into an invigoratingly accessible medium. They have done so without sacrificing their integrity as musicians or alienating fans grown accustomed to their mathematical form of aural brutality. As intense as an eighteen wheeler jack-knifing into a school bus and as audacious as Stephen Hawkins breakdancing, "Miss Machine" is a modern day classic that is as likely to set fire to mainstream charts as it is to be adored by vinyl-collecting obsessives, and once again The Dillinger Escape Plan have proven they are one of today's most talented ensembles, be it man OR machine.