One of Us Is the Killer

One of Us Is the Killer
Studio album by The Dillinger Escape Plan
Released May 14, 2013
Studio Omen Room in California and in New Jersey
Genre Mathcore, progressive metal,[1] experimental metal
Length 40:01
Label Party Smasher, Sumerian
Producer Steve Evetts
The Dillinger Escape Plan chronology

Option Paralysis
(2010)		 One of Us Is the Killer
(2013)
Singles from One of Us Is the Killer
  1. "Prancer"
    Released: March 12, 2013

One of Us Is the Killer is the fifth studio album by American mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, released on May 14, 2013.[2] One of Us Is the Killer is the band's second release under their Party Smasher, Inc. imprint. The CD was released as a standard version that can be picked up at most record stores, and a limited version with a scratch-off cover that can only be bought at Best Buy containing two bonus tracks.

Background

Greg Puciato indicated that he chose the album title "pretty much as soon as I finished writing [the] song" of the same name.[3] He explained that the meaning behind the title involves "a lot of issues on the album relate[d] to co-dependency and unknowingly destroying a relationship and taking responsibility for that and not pointing outward. The chorus of the song says 'one of us must die, but the killer won’t survive.' In a relationship, you're both fifty percent at fault. It's about accepting responsibility instead of directing it outward."[3]

Puciato arrived at this view as a result of "two really critical relationships in my life that were under a lot of strain" while the album was being written.[3] He acknowledged that the relationships were with guitarist Ben Weinman and his girlfriend, which he described as in "a state of turmoil" and "unhealthy".[3]

Recording

Prior to recording One of Us Is the Killer, the band essentially constructed a studio around its practice space.[4] Vocalist Greg Puciato noted that the album "took a lot longer" to record,[3] with the band members recording their respective instruments on consecutive days rather than alternating: "This time we did it traditionally and everyone tracked their instruments in succession. So I spent 25 days in a row recording vocals,"[3] said Puciato. He explained that this helped him to concentrate on how he delivered the vocals:

I thought it would be a real detriment, because after three or four days I would start to sound different. But it was the opposite. For some reason, being able to completely immerse and not poke your head out every two or three days really allowed us to go down the rabbit hole and keep the microscope on the vocals without having to switch gears. I think we ended up with better vocals because of that.[3]

Promotion

In contrast to their previous releases, previews of material slated to be on the album prior to its announcement were scarce. The band announced the album title and cover on their Facebook page on February 18, 2013.[5] The first single from the album, "Prancer", was released on the iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon MP3 on March 12.[6] On April 1, the band shared a preview of the album on Facebook, released by the label on YouTube on March 31.[7] An official music video for the second track, "When I Lost My Bet" was released on YouTube on April 23, 2013. The album was streamed in its entirety on May 12.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 79/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com [9]
Allmusic [1]
Alternative Press [10]
Exclaim! [11]
musicOMH [12]
Spin [13]
Sputnikmusic 4.1/5[14]
This Is Fake DIY [15]

One Of Us Is the Killer achieved widespread critical acclaim. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 79, based on 10 reviews.[8] Gregory Heaney of Allmusic, giving the album 4 out of 5 stars, commented on the album's accessibility (without the band leaving their signature sound), saying "This shift toward playing to the listener's gut rather than head gives The Dillinger Escape Plan a newfound level of accessibility without diminishing the impact of their punishing sound, and though it might seem like they're smoothing out the edges of their sound and turning their swords into plowshares, the reality is that they've just turned it into a different kind of weapon.",[1] while Jacob Royal of Sputnikmusic gave the album a rating of 4.1 out of 5, stating "One Of Us Is the Killer is easily the most sprawling piece of work The Dillinger Escape Plan has created yet."[14]

The album received the band's highest chart placement upon release, selling 15,900 copies in the United States in the first week of sales and coming in at number 25 on the Billboard Top 200.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Greg Puciato, all music composed by Ben Weinman[16].

No. Title Length
1. "Prancer"   3:52
2. "When I Lost My Bet"   3:53
3. "One of Us Is the Killer"   3:28
4. "Hero of the Soviet Union"   3:00
5. "Nothing's Funny"   3:26
6. "Understanding Decay"   3:48
7. "Paranoia Shields"   4:27
8. "CH 375 268 277 ARS"   2:32
9. "Magic That I Held You Prisoner"   2:49
10. "Crossburner"   5:05
11. "The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons"   3:46

Personnel

One of Us Is the Killer personnel according to CD liner notes.[16]

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Additional musicians

Production

Artwork and design

Charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 45
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 146
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] 34
French Albums (SNEP)[21] 147
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 84
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 131
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 92
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 64
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26] 16
US Billboard 200[27] 25
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] 4
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[30] 6
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[31] 8

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Heaney, Gregory (May 14, 2013). "One of Us Is the Killer - The Dillinger Escape Plan". Allmusic. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hartmann, Graham (April 1, 2013). "THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN UNLEASH ALBUM PREVIEW FOR ‘ONE OF US IS THE KILLER’". Loudwire. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Bowar, Chad (12 May 2013). "Dillinger Escape Plan Interview A Conversation with Vocalist Greg Puciato". About.com. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Robertson, Jon (2 July 2013). "Interview with Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman". Beaded Gentlemen Music. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Dillinger Escape Plan, The (February 18, 2013). "NEW ALBUM TITLE, NEW ALBUM COVER".
  6. ↑ Dillinger Escape Plan, The (March 12, 2013). "New album "ONE OF US IS THE KILLER" preorders".
  7. ↑ Dillinger Escape Plan, The (April 1, 2013). "THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN is happy to announce ...".
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "One of Us Is the Killer - The Dillinger Escape Plan". Metacritic. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  9. ↑ Sirois, Kevin (May 14, 2013). "Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer Review". About.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ "One of Us Is the Killer". Alternative Press (Cleavland, Ohio: Alternative Press Magazines Inc.) 24 (#299): p. 94. June 2013. ISSN 1065-1667.
  11. ↑ Walshcots, Natalie (May 10, 2013). "Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer". Exclaim. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  12. ↑ Mainzer, Jordan (2013-05-21). "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer". musicOMH. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  13. ↑ Gubbels, Jason (2013-05-14). "The Dillinger Escape Plan, ‘One of Us Is the Killer’". Spin. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Royal, Jacob (May 5, 2013). "Album Review - The Dillinger Escape Plan: One of Us Is the Killer". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Lynham, Alex (2013-05-20). "The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer". This Is Fake DIY. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 One of Us Is the Killer (Media notes). The Dillinger Escape Plan. Sumerian Records. 2013. CD booklet. SUM258.
  17. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien.
  20. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan: One of Us Is the Killer" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  21. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien.
  22. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  23. ↑ "デリンジャー・エスケイプ・プランのアルバム売上ランキング - ORICON STYLE".
  24. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us Is the Killer". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien.
  25. ↑ "Dillinger Escape Plan | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
  26. ↑ "2013-06-01 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
  27. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for The Dillinger Escape Plan.
  28. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Independent Albums for The Dillinger Escape Plan.
  29. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums for The Dillinger Escape Plan.
  30. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Rock Albums for The Dillinger Escape Plan.
  31. ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums for The Dillinger Escape Plan.

External links