Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan) Releases Sludgy New Single, “Do You Need Me to Remind You?”

I, for one, extremely happy that Greg Puciato has continued with his music career full force after The Dillinger Escape Plan came to an end. It’d be so easy to just pack it up, ride into the musical sunset and begin a new career elsewhere after all that, ya know? But the guy is a true artist, and true artists cannot stop creating art. We’re happy to still have him around.

And so: Puciato recently announced a new solo album — his first — titled Child Soldier: Creator of God, and he’s released a single, “Do You Need Me to Remind You?” to continue whetting our appetites following the release of “Deep Set” and “Fire for Water.” I’d missed the prior two singles due to pandemic-related crap, so this is my first exposure to Puciato’s solo joint… and it’s heavy! Kinda like a super sludgy Nine Inch Nails or something. I’m not sure why I was expecting any new solo Puciato music to be decidedly un-heavy — that would’ve been fine too — but I’m glad Puciato hasn’t gone Adult Alternative just yet.

Here’s what he offered on the creation of his first publicly released solo work:

“I’d been writing for so many different projects, Dillinger, then The Black Queen, and Killer Be Killed… and I just kept on writing. It felt as if I had more to say, but nothing that necessarily filled the script of those bands, so I ended up with something that I found to be intensely personal and super satisfying, but also confusing as far as what to do with it. When I realized that it was a solo release, it was sort of an ‘oh that’s interesting’ moment, both terrifying and exciting at once, and challenging, and new, and that combo is almost always a good sign, so I committed to it. It’s important to continue taking risks in order to grow both your creativity and your future possibilities, to create new avenues and freedoms for yourself, and it also felt like a good time for me to integrate and own everything that I am into one thing, without fragmentation or limitation. I needed to come out from telling myself that I always have to be ‘guy in a band,’ and to release this as my own name.”

Child Soldier: Creator of God comes out on October 23 via Federal Prisoner; pre-order here.