THE ALBUM OF THE DAY IS…
EVERY TIME I DIE, GUTTER PHENOMENON
“How can you get high when you’ve never been low?” What the hell do you call this kind of music? “Metalcore” would be the default (especially since they’re like the eight gazillionth band to have the word “die” in their name), but, by my count, there’s only breakdown on the whole album, and nary a ripped-off Slayer or At the Gates riff in sight- in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if these dudes didn’t own a single album by a Swedish band. The snotty, punk rock thing is all here, but the fat, slightly funky riffage has none of the crunch we associate with bands like Atreyu, none of the staccatto gallop you’d hear on an As I Lay Dying song. No, the touchstones here seem to be more traditional classic rock acts. I mean, where the fuck else would you find an album that quotes Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet AND Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)?”
The answer is: nowhere. Every Time I Die is that rarest of things- a HAPPY metal band. Jumping around in their videos, wearing pastel colors in defiance of the all-black metal dress code, this is a band that knows you don’t have to be evil to rock (not that there’s anything wrong with evil- I’m just talking about introducting a little variety into your diet). This is a great album for chugging back some beers and just having a good fucking time. Every Time I Die may have single handedly created a new subgenre in metal: partycore.
-AR
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