New Jersey-based math-metal noise mongers the Dillinger Escape Plan are known for many things: explosive (literally) live shows that have included fireworks, fire-breathing and onstage defecation; epic collaborations with performers like Mike Patton (Faith No More) and Chino Moreno (Deftones); and complex, breathtaking technical innovation in their music. But as we learned from our newly published Timeline feature, there is one more thing that sets the members of the Dillinger Escape Plan apart from their peers: horrific injuries. Few bands have been more bloodied and battered than this hard-living, harder-playing group, and some of the injuries have even cost some now-former members their careers.
In honour of their new LP, One of Us is the Killer, here are five of the worst and most wince-worthy injuries suffered by members of the Dillinger Escape Plan in the name of extreme aggressive music. And to get an in-depth history lesson on the band, make sure to pick up a copy of Exclaim! and dig into the Timeline.
The Five Most Intense Injuries Suffered by Members of the Dillinger Escape Plan:
1. A gunshot wound to the head
In 1992, while sitting in his car outside of a party in Hollywood, CA, future bassist Jeff Wood is shot in the head. He recovers from the injury, though part of the bullet will remain in his brain for the rest of his life and gradually bring about a complete personality change... Wood departs the band in 2000. While it is not explicitly stated at the time, Wood's departure is in part due to the bullet wound to the head he suffered in 1992, which is having an ever greater effect on his personality. He goes on to found Shat, a gonzo/porno grind act, and frequently performs covered in dildos, has women pee on him on stage and ensures every single one of his album titles contains the word "cunt." Wood will tell Vice in 2013 that, "I was a sick kid before the bullet, but it definitely changed some parameters in my life at that point."
2. A spinal injury resulting in permanent paralysis
In 1999, while in the planning stages of their debut full-length, Calculating Infinity, bassist Adam Doll is involved in a minor fender-bender shortly before the recording can begin. Because he is bending over to pick up a CD when it happens, the bump results in a freak injury, in the form of a spinal fracture, paralyzing him from the chest down. As a result, [Ben] Weinman performs both bass and guitar on the full-length.
3. Emergency dentistry
In 2001, on his very first tour with the band, [vocalist Greg] Puciato is hit in the face with a guitar and shatters a tooth, requiring emergency dentistry.
4. Nerve damage from playing the guitar too damn hard
In late 2004, guitarist Brian Benoit suffers nerve damage (brachial plexus neuritis) to his left hand; he briefly tries to continue in the band handling keyboards and effects. After a few performances in 2005, Benoit finds that he is unable to continue to perform live music.
5. A combination of another spinal injury, a torn rotator cuff, and severe head lacerations, all to the same member
After securing a spot on Dave Mustaine's Gigantour in 2005, the band are forced to drop off early when [founding member Ben] Weinman fractures a vertebrae in his neck and requires seven staples in his head when he is injured while performing in Anaheim, CA. Later that year, Weinman tears his rotator cuff while on tour in Japan, but continues to play despite the injury. (He will finally have corrective surgery on his shoulder in 2006, when he is physically unable to play any more. Surgery will cost over $30,000.)
In honour of their new LP, One of Us is the Killer, here are five of the worst and most wince-worthy injuries suffered by members of the Dillinger Escape Plan in the name of extreme aggressive music. And to get an in-depth history lesson on the band, make sure to pick up a copy of Exclaim! and dig into the Timeline.
The Five Most Intense Injuries Suffered by Members of the Dillinger Escape Plan:
1. A gunshot wound to the head
In 1992, while sitting in his car outside of a party in Hollywood, CA, future bassist Jeff Wood is shot in the head. He recovers from the injury, though part of the bullet will remain in his brain for the rest of his life and gradually bring about a complete personality change... Wood departs the band in 2000. While it is not explicitly stated at the time, Wood's departure is in part due to the bullet wound to the head he suffered in 1992, which is having an ever greater effect on his personality. He goes on to found Shat, a gonzo/porno grind act, and frequently performs covered in dildos, has women pee on him on stage and ensures every single one of his album titles contains the word "cunt." Wood will tell Vice in 2013 that, "I was a sick kid before the bullet, but it definitely changed some parameters in my life at that point."
2. A spinal injury resulting in permanent paralysis
In 1999, while in the planning stages of their debut full-length, Calculating Infinity, bassist Adam Doll is involved in a minor fender-bender shortly before the recording can begin. Because he is bending over to pick up a CD when it happens, the bump results in a freak injury, in the form of a spinal fracture, paralyzing him from the chest down. As a result, [Ben] Weinman performs both bass and guitar on the full-length.
3. Emergency dentistry
In 2001, on his very first tour with the band, [vocalist Greg] Puciato is hit in the face with a guitar and shatters a tooth, requiring emergency dentistry.
4. Nerve damage from playing the guitar too damn hard
In late 2004, guitarist Brian Benoit suffers nerve damage (brachial plexus neuritis) to his left hand; he briefly tries to continue in the band handling keyboards and effects. After a few performances in 2005, Benoit finds that he is unable to continue to perform live music.
5. A combination of another spinal injury, a torn rotator cuff, and severe head lacerations, all to the same member
After securing a spot on Dave Mustaine's Gigantour in 2005, the band are forced to drop off early when [founding member Ben] Weinman fractures a vertebrae in his neck and requires seven staples in his head when he is injured while performing in Anaheim, CA. Later that year, Weinman tears his rotator cuff while on tour in Japan, but continues to play despite the injury. (He will finally have corrective surgery on his shoulder in 2006, when he is physically unable to play any more. Surgery will cost over $30,000.)