Every Time I Die - Radical (Written Album Review)

Every Time I Die has been one of those rare bands in metalcore/hardcore that established their own early on and has managed to make tweaks to it over time without alienating their core fan base.  With each album you know you’re getting some heavy hitting and raw riffs with a healthy amount of rock ‘n roll swagger, but each one has also had some unexpected musical or vocal elements.  Since 2001’s Last Night in Town the band has kept up a steady pace of albums every two to three years, but this slowed down following 2016’s Low Teens.  Five years is a long time for any long-running and higher profile group to go without material, but with Radical offering up sixteen tracks in fifty-one minutes it very much feels like Every Time I Die is making up for it.  And while there’s still plenty here that offers up exactly what long-time fans would expect, these guys are still capable of changing things up in ways that help album number seven to feel fresh.

My first concern with an Every Time I Die album of this length was that it would run out of steam and have some songs that weren’t up to par, considering that the majority of the band’s discography comes in at a concise thirty to forty minutes.  Thankfully this worry was quickly alleviated after spending some in depth time with Radical, as there are plenty of surprises as you make your way through that keep things interesting on almost every song.  “Dark Distance” kicks things off with feedback and beefy tonality that has a bit of a sludge/doom vibe added into the band’s usual metalcore/hardcore.  From there you get plenty of that rock ‘n roll swagger where the riffs have a bit of Southern flair along with jagged and sometimes technical hardcore, capturing all the different elements that Every Time I Die has become known for over the years.  What works so well for Radical is how it consistently flows from all-out intensity to mellower arrangements, as the speed and thrash edges of “Colossal Wreck” lead right into the experimental rock opening of “Desperate Pleasures”.  The band has added in elements of experimental rock, pop punk, and plenty of other melodic ideas before, but there’s more this time around and they remain just as dark in tone as the aggressive moments.  One of the biggest surprises was “Thing With Feathers”, which starts off with much softer guitar that feels like it was ripped right out of Radiohead’s The Bends before heading into high energy riffs that come off a bit more similar to Coheed and Cambria.  Every Time I Die clearly still has some tricks up their sleeves with songs like this, and they have the hooks to back up the shifts in style.  It’s not all perfect, as closer “We Go Together” drags its five-minute length out and a few more of the straightforward numbers don’t always stick with me, but there’s so much here that is up there with some of my favorite songs from the band’s discography that I’ve had this album on repeat for days.

There has always been plenty of riffs to draw listeners in, but Keith Buckley’s diverse vocal performances and lyrics have been what has made Every Time I Die a classic artist for many.  His screams are just as in your face as ever, but his singing has only gotten stronger over the years.  I went back recently and was spending some time with albums like Gutter Phenomenon and The Big Dirty, and the power and confidence in Buckley’s singing on Radical compared to those efforts is very noticeable.  As with the rest of the band, he shakes things up regularly, coming in with some mellower singing or quicker, punchier sections that even channel a little of At the Drive-In’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala.  The aforementioned “Thing With Feathers” brings in Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull for guest vocals where he sounds extremely close to Thom Yorke, while “All This and War” finds Josh Scogin (’68, ex-The Chariot) trading vocal lines with Buckley.  Guest spots have been a regular part of Every Time I Die’s discography and they continue to add some neat small touches to the material.  Lyrically this might be some of the darkest material yet, as it’s clear that both Buckley and the band have gone through quite a bit in the years since Low Teens, both personal and related to the upheaval in the world today.

After seven albums and twenty-three years together as a band, one had to wonder if Every Time I Die was starting to lose steam or going to rehash too many ideas.  The answer to this is a definitive no, as they’ve delivered a lengthy album filled with the types of high flying hardcore and rock ‘n roll that has come to define their discography while still providing some unexpected twists and turns.  There are a few minor bumps in the road, but overall this is another A showing and an album I expect to get a lot of mileage out of for years to come.  Radical is available from Epitaph Records.

-Review by Chris Dahlberg

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