Every Time I Die

From Parts Unknown

Written by: PP on 10/09/2014 00:24:17

Ready? Set? It's time to hang from the rafters, mow down the pit, and kick down the walls in a tremendous explosion of furious energy and pure chaos. Go. This seems to have been the recipe for the seventh Every Time I Die album "From Parts Unknown", which goes down in history books as their most uncompromising and brutal effort yet, all the while displaying further growth as songwriters and without abandoning some of the stylistic experiments they've dabbled with in the past. The latter is mostly aired towards the end of the album after they've spent the majority of the first half plowing down any skeptics with a mathcore assault so frenetic and insane it gives The Chariot a run for their money in terms of its chaotic features. The tempo is devastating, drawing heavily from hardcore punk as its key inspiration, freight training through the disc in short, two-minute bursts of absolutely ferocious hardcore full of stop/start sequences and abrupt time signature changes.

First two tracks "The Great Secret" and "Pelican Of The Desert" pretty much set out to murder the listener in the best "Organ Grinder" mode. Then it's time for a brief venture into the more melodic spectrum of ETID songwriting with "Decayin' With The Boys", which inserts a hefty dosage of rock'n'roll groove and The Damned Things influence into the unforgiving hardcore mixture boiling over like there's no tomorrow. Here, we get the first hint of clean vocals, which are used extremely sparingly throughout the record as if to flip off the listener and say "yeah, we could do this, but fuck you because that's why". The quintessential southern flavor that the band has been known for throughout the years is also strongly present, as are the mathcore vibes that draw your thoughts to Norma Jean material before they embedded melancholia into their soundscape.

Such sissy melodies are strictly forbidden on "From Parts Unknown", which basically has two modes: murder and bludgeon. With party-fueled groove metal forming the foundation behind those two terms, mind you. That being said, the second half is where you'll find experimentation in similar vein of "New Junk Aesthetic". It starts from sixth track "Moor", which features a slower rhythmic pattern and some strange spoken-word sections with the lower keys of the piano being hit in an ominous manner to allow us a breather from the total chaos that has been ensuing thus far. Later, album highlight "Old Light" provides the only chunks of real melody this album has to offer that haven't been ravaged by a savage mathcore baton in the process. Here, the band successfully blend together their explosive energy with clean melody to die for without sacrificing the overall brutality of the record as a whole. Together with "El Dorado", which offers a similar momentary peek into the more melodic existence of the band, these two tracks make for the two best tracks on the record, and it would've been interesting to hear more sonic exploration in this manner instead of more of the same, senseless cheesegrater-style hardcore that the vast majority of the record consists of.

Nevertheless, it is impossible not to be impressed by the sheer power and seemingly limitless reserves of aggression that Every Time I Die demonstrates on this record - let's just say Converge would be proud. Keith Buckley sounds like his throat and lungs are in need of surgery after each track, which will continue to split opinion down the middle. For some, Keith's uncompromising hardcore-fueled yell will feel too monotonous and unfriendly thanks to its basic and fundamental opposition to melody on most tracks of the album. Still, the levels of BBQ-fueled testosterone on display are off the charts, and there are seriously moments where you'll risk melting your stereo down from the heated ferocity blasting through your speakers as you go through this record. Is it their best record yet, as many seem to be claiming? Not quite. "New Junk Aesthetic" still did this same style better, mostly for the pointers I've already mentioned earlier with a better split between tracks that utilize melody and tracks that are just pure chaos. That album will remain as the classic ETID album in my books, having followed the band closely since "Hot Damn!". It comes in as a close second though.

8

Download: Old Light, El Dorado, Decayin' With The Boys, Thirst
For the fans of: Norma Jean, Converge, The Damned Things
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.07.2014
Epitaph

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