Every Time I Die, famously from Buffalo, New York, have always been a band that curate and weaponise chaos, turning ruthless explosions of energy into an obscenely addictive art form that end up reading like a choreographed car crash that you just cannot look away from. Their eclectic mix of metalcore, hardcore punk and brain melting math-rock feels like the serrated edge of a cruelly sharpened knife, but with melodies that reveal a mournful beauty at the centre of an impossibly aggressive sonic hurricane.
Their most recent effort, Radical, released October 22nd 2021, is an example of just how masterful at this process they have become. Kicking off proceedings with “Dark Distance”, we are greeted with an uncomfortable high-pitched whine, until lead singer Keith Buckley summons forth the salvo with the excruciatingly poignant and sardonic line “Spare only the ones I love, slay the rest”. Immediately the riffs come in droves. With one of the best opening riffs I’ve heard in years, this track sets the tone for the rest of the album expertly and leaves the bones in your neck screaming to be broken. Each instrument complements the next with a sagacity and flawless synergy that most bands could only dream of. Buckley, his brother and guitarist Jordan Buckley, guitarist Andy Williams, bassist Stephen Micciche and drummer Clayton Holyoak, have zeroed in on a sound entirely their own, and the world is absolutely better off for it.
The album then continues in much the same vein. The relentless riffage, pounding rhythms and throat bleeding vocals of the self-degradation sermon “Sly”, and the merciless dressing down of the human condition “Planet Shit”, leave you breathless and totally in awe, like wildlife witnessing a nuclear war.
What comes next is, to me, one of the albums many highlights, “Post Boredom”. I think of this song as if The Gaslight Anthem met up with The Dillinger Escape Plan for a boxing match and lost. Huge melodies, inspired lyrics, their patented non-stop guitar onslaught, and heart stopping breakdowns abound, with an uplifting middle section led with the adage “I’ve done it all wrong for so long, it feels okay. From up here the parties and funerals, they look the same”. To have this sense of hopelessness coupled with the beautiful energy roused by this track is catharsis in its truest form.
“A Colossal Wreck”, “Desperate Pleasures” and “All This and War” (the latter of the trio featuring Josh Scogin of Norma Jean and ’68 fame), are three more blistering examples of the metallic, abrasive outrage that has dappled the band’s music since inception. Infectious grooves, hellish vocals and musical stabs fit to wake the dead, all three carrying a punk energy that cuts straight to the bone.
The next track, “Thing With Feathers”, featuring Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra, is a well earned lull in the combat. Showcasing a softer, more vulnerable sound that eventually crescendos into an immeasurable wall of melancholy, if nothing else then this song simply showcases the breadth of Every Time I Die’s creative scope. Spoiler alert, it is vast.
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Focus is drawn sharply back into the anarchy with “Hostile Architecture”, my personal favourite “AWOL” and “The Whip”, which all treat the listener once again to the hefty right hooks and swagger that the Buffalo Bruisers are so well known for. Each track brings its own flavour to the table, but all carry the same key points of finger snapping riffs and huge drums with innovative lyrics and melody.
It’s worth noting here that yes, I am a huge fan of the band and have been for some time. That being said, even if you weren’t, you simply can’t deny that the lyrics attached to these songs are leagues ahead of anything else happening outside of the Prog Rock/Metal scene. Keith Buckley has a way with words that makes the most intense conversation seem banal, and he only seems to get wittier, sharper, and more detailed with time.
Now, are you ready for some spicy southern rock? No? Good, because I wasn’t either. It doesn’t matter, though. The intro to “White Void” is anthemic, the bluesy melodies and rapturous rhythm giving way to a classic ETID build up and release motion of metalcore, like smooth seas transitioning to the storm that you saw on the distant horizon only moments before. You simply can’t pin this band down, they refuse to be predictable and in today’s age of programmed radio rock bullshit, this quality is in far too short supply.
“Distress Rehearsal” soon follows, with a hint of thrash-based furore fuelling a real metal punch-to-the-gut track that you won’t soon forget. “sexsexsex” is a similar story, but with a deceptively ambient intro reminiscent of Deftones meets Protest The Hero, before kicking back into the metalcore punk madness once again.
The penultimate track, “People Verses”, is a swaying, swinging cry into the abyss that draws forth a very surreal sense of isolation. The riffs are great, and the rhythms are ceaselessly pounding, just as you might want them to be. This doesn’t stop the song from feeling a little derivative of some of their previous work, however. I just felt like I’d heard this track before, and it didn’t speak to me as loudly as the rest of this album did. By no means a poor track, it’s expertly crafted and hauntingly gorgeous and ugly at the same time, I just think it was up against some stiffer competition on this album than it may have been on one of their earlier albums. Hey, if the biggest problem you have is that one song isn’t as good as some of your others, but is still great, that’s not much of a problem at all now, is it?
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The album draws to a close with the insane sludge-fest “We Go Together”. Just as with the previous track, this song plagues the corners of your mind with an incredible sense of loneliness coupled with a wild untamed anger. The melodies are haunting, rooted against an instrumental backing track that could punch a hole through your skull. The sheer weight of these riffs feels like it could drag you through the very floor on which you stand. Unlike the previous song, however, this song is entirely its own beast, especially towards the latter half. One of the most creative pieces I’ve heard from this band, possibly ever. Each time it turns a corner it shows a new face leaving you guessing and never guessing correctly, and it is glorious. What a way to end an album.
This album sums up perfectly what I adore about this band, artistically, lyrically, or however else you might want to view that statement. It’s undeniably massive and unequivocally honest. The band’s artistic integrity remains firmly intact… but as if they give a fuck what you think anyway.
Header image by Chuck Abbott
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