The Dillinger Escape Plan completed their follow-up album to Miss Machine in 2007, entitled Ire Works, produced by Steve Evetts at his studio Omen Room in Los Angeles. Drums were recorded at Sonikwire Studios in Irvine, California. On June 15, the band announced the title of the album as well as confirming the departure of Chris Pennie (now with Coheed and Cambria). Gil Sharone of Stolen Babies handled drum duties for the album. Ire Works was released on November 13, 2007. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #142 with 7,000 copies scanned, but was later corrected when it was revealed that Relapse somehow forgot to scan the pre-release album sales, which made the first week total actually around 11,000.
Missing from the new line up was guitarist Brian Benoit, who had left the band because of injury. Although assured his place in the band is secure should he ever be able to perform again, Jeff Tuttle (formerly of Heads Will Roll and Capture the Flag) has taken his place on stage. Tuttle, however, does not make an appearance on the record.
Ire Works has been a critical and commercial success, with the album being on many critics’ top ten lists, making it the band’s most critically successful album. Allmusic said that “DEP should be careful, or they’ll end up the Radiohead of metalcore.” On February 6, 2008, the band had two songs from Ire Works broadcasted on two television programs in the United States. The song “Milk Lizard” was featured on the CSI: NY episode “Playing With Matches”, and the band performed live the song “Black Bubblegum” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. In January 2009 Gil Sharone left the band. Billy Rymer was then confirmed to be the band’s new drummer.
On Saturday, February 21, as The Dillinger Escape Plan played at the Soundwave music festival in Brisbane, Australia at the RNA Showgrounds, plastic water bottles and cans were thrown at the band. The band then comically made it into a game and made the statement “25 points for hitting the drummer, 75 for any of us (all other members), and 150 if you could hit the members of Poison the Well standing at the side of the stage.”
They also repeatedly joined Nine Inch Nails onstage during the Soundwave 2009 festival, helping them perform the songs “Wish” and “Mr. Self Destruct” as part of the last encore song of Nine Inch Nail’s live show at the event.
