My first encounter with SEVEN)SUNS was two weeks into 2023 at La Suspendida, the Jazz-Metal-Opera brainchild of Kilter and William Berger, a massive undertaking in which the string quartet played a vital part. (Editor’s Note: read our review here.) Wait – violas and violins in metal? Of course. Connoisseurs of the progressive would expect violin in bands like Ne Obliviscaris, but the less familiar may be surprised to find strings in heavier, speedier bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse. While such symphonic metal may not be for everyone, let’s not pretend the haunted wailing of orchestral instruments has no place in metal.
When It comes to genre-bending and pushing creative envelopes, few do it better than The Dillinger Escape Plan. The band is about to release their latest album, entitled One Of Us Is The Killer. Ghost Cult Caught up with guitarist Ben Weinman to discuss DEP’s upcoming record, his admiration for Mike Patton and the fine art of maintaining one’s sanity on the road.
Shall we start by getting the superlatives out of the way first? One Of Us Is The Killer is the finest record that The Dillinger Escape Plan have released. Period. It is a record so good you keep pinching yourself that this isn’t just some kind of weird extreme music dream where everything you love about this type of music arrives all at once and in beautfully realised fashion. One Of Us Is The Killer is a record of such blistering, visceral power that it will have you screaming your lungs out, dancing like a maniac and generally throwing yourself around your room with carefree abandon at the sheer bloody marvel before you.