by JOHNSON CUMMINS

While Converge, Mastodon, Isis and Pig Destroyer push the boundaries of extreme music, none of them can touch the outer limits to which New Jersey's Dillinger Escape Plan has taken the genre. Their third effort Miss Machine completely rewrote the rulebook on progressive hardcore, with arrangements tossing and turning furiously and greater intensity than, well, anybody - ever.

After losing their original singer to a regular day job and domestic bliss, DEP recorded an EP with Ipecac's Mike Patton, but finding a permanent singer that could match the musical mayhem every step of the way would not prove easy. "We recorded a song, put it on our Web site and asked people to take the track and put vocals on it," says bass player Liam Wilson about the process that netted Greg Puciato. "We got all these singers sending in stuff that just didn't get the point of the band at all. When we heard Greg's track, we knew we had our guy. He fit in perfectly, and in this band, we don't allow space for weak points."

Miss Machine was a barnstormer for sure, with more noise, insane prog arrangements, jaw-dropping musicianship and even a flirtation with pop. As good as the record is, though, DEP truly walk the walk when it comes to the live show. A recent gig in Las Vegas had guitarist Chris Benoit swinging his guitar neck into singer Puciato's mouth, taking out two of his teeth. Puciato didn't miss a beat, spitting blood in the audience's faces between screams.

"We've all had stitches from playing shows, but I guess the weirdest thing that ever happened was when we played this big festival in the U.K. with Guns 'N Roses and Incubus. Greg went on this huge stage and shit in a bag. They have these really big video screens and they're showing Greg's sphincter opening up and everything. He gets it in the bag and throws it out in this huge crowd and somehow, the bag got thrown back. I don't know what happened after that, but Greg was covered in his own shit. I was watching the video, and you can see him gag while he's trying to sing. That was pretty cool."

With Read Yellow, the End and Trivium at Club Soda
on Sunday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., $18

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