Review: Seven)Suns – One of Us is the Killer

Style: Mathcore, Modernist Classical, Experimental (Instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dmitri Shostakovich quartets, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mica Levi, Apocalyptica I guess but this might give you a nosebleed
Review by: Christopher
Country: New York, USA
Release date: 15 29 September, 2023

“One of Us is the Killer, I’m sure I’ve heard that name before…” You’d be right: it’s the title of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s fifth—and, in my opinion, best—album! Released ten years ago (yes, my bones ache too), this release by the ingenious mathcore legends was one of many tour de forces. Their complex, discordant, jazz-inflected sonic chaos garnered the New Jersey quintet an unlikely following, becoming one of the foremost experimental metal bands of their day. However, one question I’d be willing to bet few fans have ever asked themselves is “what if a string quartet covered Dillinger?” because what sort of insanity would ever compel anyone to ask that?¹ I’m not sure I believe it could work. 

Well, to quote the great band themselves: “fuck you, now try to disbelieve it”. New York-based string quartet Seven)Suns have covered this legendary release by a band whose style—according to their own guitarist, Ben Weinman—sounds like “garbage cans falling down stairs”. Seven)Suns have worked with Dillinger before, notably providing strings on the title track from Dissociation, but that’s accompaniment, not arrangement. To what degree can a string quartet—two violinists, a violist, and a cellist—really capture the mathematical clattering that is The Dillinger Escape Plan? 

In the skillful hands of Seven)Suns, One of Us is the Killer sounds more like modernist classical: think Stravinsky, Penderecki, or Shostakovich (indeed, the comparison I kept coming back to was the second movement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8—the same relationship between dissonance and melody, between harshness and sublimity). In the hands of Seven)Suns, the crowing synth that opens “Understanding Decay” sounds more like the bloodcurdling strings from Psycho’s infamous shower scene. On the original “Prancer”, the climactic ending is the best part, but in Seven)Suns’ interpretation the chaotic swooping of the bridge section becomes the track’s defining moment, a much-needed melodic counterpoint to the atonality of the rest of the song. Meanwhile, their renditions of “Nothing’s Funny” and the title track prioritise the vocal melody as their throughlines, the former shifting into Pendereckian plucked anxiety for the bridge section, the latter’s scratchy rhythm part bestowing an almost folky flavour. 

As a fan, one already knows these songs intimately; to hear them transformed is a compelling and rewarding experience. Of course, without drums and vocals every instrument is being represented by strings and Seven)Suns somehow manage to capture those elements with the violin and the viola often carrying Puciato’s clean vocal melodies, and the cello attack providing a percussive energy. What’s interesting is that my favourites change too: the act of reinterpretation is one of transformation, and so while I sing the praises of “Prancer”, “Crossburner” and “The Threat of Nuclear Weapons” on the original album, I find Seven)Suns’ versions of “Understanding Decay”, “Paranoia Shields”, and “Magic That I Held You Prisoner” the most intriguing, strings having transformed—perhaps even elevated—those tracks. The heaviest sections of Dillinger aren’t as easily replicable as the melodic sections, relying more heavily on dissonance than on distortion; Seven)Suns truly shine on the eerie, clean harmonies. 

The translator Mireille Gansel declared translation “as risk-taking and as continual re-examination, of even a single word”; the same goes for even a single note. Seven)Suns demonstrate that rearrangement is itself an art form, a deconstruction of sound to its constituent parts only to build it up anew after risky reexamination. Dillinger’s original album is an untouchable masterpiece, but Seven)Suns’ alchemical reimagining is a completely different beast, totally familiar and yet irrevocably transformed. In rearranging One of Us is the Killer for strings, something new has been created, a masterwork in a different medium.

1.  A Ben Weinman level of insanity, as a matter of fact. After hearing Seven)Suns’ cover of “43% Burnt”, the Dillinger guitarist contacted the quartet about the anniversary project. Weinman and Seven)Suns violinist Earl Maneein discuss the intricacies of arranging mathcore for strings in this interview. 
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Recommended tracks: Understanding Decay, Paranoia Shields, Crossburner (or whichever track from this album you’re most excited to hear interpreted by a string quartet)
You may also like: Harry Stafylakis, Raphael Weinroth-Browne, Gleb Kolyadin, Daniel O’Sullivan
Final verdict: 8.5/10 (5/10 to Silent Pendulum Records for putting the wrong release date on Bandcamp)

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Label: Silent Pendulum Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Seven)Suns is:
– Earl Maneein (violin)
– Adda Kridler (violin)
– Fung Chern Hwei (viola)
– Jennifer DeVore (cello)