From the hardcore kids on roller-skates antics of the Ebolarama video to the tattoo of Leonard Nimoy's disembodied head on vocalist Keith Buckley's leg, Every Time I Die are not a band for taking things taking too seriously. That said, the group have continuously improved with each release and this fourth full length for Ferret doesn't buck the trend.
Buckley's stage persona of the wide-eyed preacher delivering his sermon to a devoted throng makes its strongest transition to record yet, and while the other four musicians make a fine southern rock-infused noise behind him you can't ignore the feeling that this is HIS record. The familiar daft song titles are still in place ("Rebel without Applause", Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Battery") and as a onetime English tutor it's no surprise that he's more articulate than the average hardcore frontman. Sadly it's not all gold and lines as considered as "We sacrificed discourse at the feet of your clever turn of phrase" can't help but sit uncomfortably alongside the more Waynes World-esque "Till death do we rock!" regardless of the intended irony.
The whole album is summed up superbly by the explosive finale of the aforementioned "Imitation..." its barrage of stop-start riffs and pounding drums neatly distilling the previous 11 songs into 2:29 of mayhem. In a way it's the definitive ETID track, more so than "The New Black or "Kill The Music" and is destined to become a live classic. "My job here is done" Buckley insists towards the end. You can't help but believe him. Fans that jumped ship between Hot Damn! and Gutter Phenomenon are unlikely to be tempted back aboard but that hardly seems the point; this album is sure to bring the band to a wider audience.
Nate
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