Greg Puciato ‘Mirrorcell’ Review: ex-Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist indulges his love for 90s grunge and 80s new wave on sophomore solo album. 

The Dillinger Escape Plan may have broken up in 2017, but former frontman Greg Puciato has still been plenty busy.

In the ensuing years he’s released two albums from his electronic project The Black Queen as well as his eclectic solo debut Child Soldier: Creator of God.

And now he’s back with Mirrorcell (July 1, Federal Prisoner), his sophomore solo effort that acts like a microcosm for his various musical styles, along with exploring new sonic terrain.

Puciato’s past collaborations with Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell are a heavy influence on the album, as Puciato noted in a recent press release: “I feel like being around him a lot and helping him with his record and learning his stuff ended up bleeding out of me through my own filter a little bit. Before I ever sang, I played guitar and I feel like I just really got more into that again over the past few years. Incorporating more of that further removed my own ideas of what I was or wasn’t.”

Indeed, tracks like the guttural Reality Spiral owes much to Alice In Chains style, with both his guitar (Puciato plays all instruments except for drum duties, which are handled by Chris Hornbook) and vocals recalling the grunge juggernaut while still sounding distinctly Puciato, while the odd-meter riff of No More Lives To Go feels like a spiritual successor to Them Bones.

Unhinged shows off Puciato’s guitar chops, with a snarling wah-wah soaked solo punctuating the mix, while Never Wanted That is a dark goth tinged ballad with a soulful bluesy solo, ending with a ghostly sustained vocal note.

Puciato indulges his industrial itch with We, which mixes NIN angst and ambient chill for maximum effect, while Lowered is a dark New Wave ballad featuring Shirley Manson-esque vocals from Code Orange’s Reba Myers. Their dual harmonies make for one of the album’s most distinctive moments.

The album ends on heavier territory: Rainbows Underground channels 90s alt-rock/metal angst with perforated kick drums and his best vocals on the album, while All Waves To Nothing combines a punishing Black Sabbath-esque riff, pounding drums, and distorted delayed vocals, where Puciato shrieks I don’t really feel like myself anymore! until the track explodes to a propulsive finish with flailing arpeggios and accelerated percussion.

Credit must also be given to Dillinger Escape Plan producer Steve Evetts who never muddies the mix, allowing for a variety of tones and textures for multi-layered dynamic impact. 

With Mirrorcell, Greg Puciato continues to be a musician impossible to pin down or predict. He has crafted his own sonic template, which proves versatile and elastic enough to go anywhere from here. And judging from this formidable release, that’s a no-guardrails journey his fanbase is happy to take.