Ire Works

Background

After a successful reception and tour to Miss Machine, the band began recording new material. However, drummer Chris Pennie left the band to join Coheed and Cambria as the band's permanent drummer after the departure of their former drummer. Shortly after, new drummer Gil Sharone was hired by Dillinger and performed the drum tracks on the album.

During the Miss Machine tours, guitarist Brian Benoit developed nerve damage in his left hand and was forced to quit the band. Instead of hiring a new guitarist, Ben Weinman played all of the album's guitar tracks. Jeff Tuttle was later hired as the band's touring guitarist. Once again, the band hired metalcore producer Steve Evetts. Former vocalist Dimitri Minakakis makes guest vocals on the track "Fix Your Face", and has appeared on stage with the band many times.

The artwork was created by Shelby Cinca of Frodus and Decahedron. He was chosen by the band for his sci-fi/futurist-influenced visual sensibilities. The artwork is also a subtle reference to Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning, as a URL pointing to "ireworks.net" is written in small, almost hidden text on the album's official lyric sheet. The triangle on the album contains the same basic colors shown on the Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning pyramid, though the actual artwork uses gradients versus having different levels of shading.

Critical reception

Ire Works was released to critical acclaim. In the January 2008 issue of Revolver they counted down the top 20 albums of 2007 with Ire Works at number two, right behind Baroness's Red Album and before High on Fire's Death Is This Communion. It gained the same spot in Kerrang! magazine's Top 20 albums of 2007, before Machine Head's The Blackening and behind Biffy Clyro's Puzzle. It was ranked number 3, below Watain's Sworn to the Dark and Pig Destroyer's Phantom Limb, in Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2007. Mike Portnoy named this album one of his favorite albums of 2007 on his official web page.

Public reception

Ire Works was well received by the public. On Rate Your Music the album has an average rating of 3.50 of 5, based on more than 2,250 ratings, and on Sputnikmusic the album has a "great" average rating of 3.7 of 5, based on more than 2,200 ratings.

Hidden message

The seemingly meaningless colored blocks found in the cover booklet can be deciphered with either the input box at or the colored blocks on the back cover, which are arranged as the alphabet.

Once deciphered, the code reveals a message, including a number of well known quotes by eminent individuals such as Arthur C. Clarke, Henry Thoreau, and Richard Dawkins

The full quote is below:

We have a symbiotic relationship with something which has disguised itself so as not to alarm us. You contain a trillion copies of a large textual document written in a highly accurate digital code. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. It might not be true but these are necessary illusions. Just lie down on the floor and keep calm. If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. Wherever you go, there you are. This is a tour de force of misinformation disguised as fact.

Track listing

All tracks written by Ben Weinman and Greg Puciato.

Personnel

Additional personnel