Calculating Infinity is the debut studio album by American metalcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan. Recorded at Trax East Recording Studio in South River, New Jersey, it was produced by engineer Steve Evetts with the band's guitarist Ben Weinman and drummer Chris Pennie, and released on September 28, 1999 by Relapse Records. The album is the band's only full-length album to feature original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, who left the band in 2001. Media response to Calculating Infinity was positive, with critics praising the aggressive nature of the album's material, as well as the complexity of the arrangement and instrumental work. Several publications have highlighted it as a landmark release in The Dillinger Escape Plan's catalogue and in hardcore punk and heavy metal as a whole. They also credited its influence on the genres and on the work of several subsequent bands. While exploring hardcore punk, the record is also classified as metalcore, experimental metal, and grindcore, in addition to being highlighted as one of the first mathcore albums. Its lyrical themes mostly revolve around failing relationships and insecurity. By 2013, Calculating Infinity had sold in excess of 100,000 copies worldwide. Background In 1998 the band wrote and recorded an EP titled Under the Running Board. During this time period, The Dillinger Escape Plan gained notoriety in the hardcore punk scene for the intensity of their performances which were increasingly wild, and often violent. These features, as well as the creative, technical approach of their music led a record executive of Relapse Records to offer the band a multi-record contract. Shortly after the EP, rhythm guitarist John Fulton left the band to focus on his computer programming studies. Recording and production Recording for Calculating Infinity took place in March, April and June 1999 at Trax East Recording Studio in South River, New Jersey, with production led by Steve Evetts alongside the band's lead guitarist Ben Weinman and drummer Chris Pennie. The recording process has been described by Weinman as "extremely difficult" due to technological limitations, and resulted in an album with which he initially felt "very unhappy". In an interview with Decibel magazine, the guitarist added: "In the studio it was really hard, because at the time we didn't use Pro Tools and did everything to tape". The group also ran out of money during the process, resorting to trading their individual publishing rights for the songs to their label Relapse