I want to be dead with my friends.
– "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space"
In the year 2012, with album #6 in the chamber, Everytime I Die blasts away at the music world with a self-consciously dark and angry addition to their characteristic sound. Ex Lives is a more immediately memorable and accessible than their previous effort, New Junk Aesthetic, and yet retains the same bitterness while reminding the listener of the attitude of Gutter Phenomenon. In a way, Everytime I Die has accomplished exactly what they needed to: retain the original spirit and fury of the metalcore explosion of 2004/05 without sounding stale or redundant.
For most fans, Hot Damn and Gutter Phenomenon are the major standouts in the band's career (though some critics tend to point to Last Night in Town). And though Ex Lives doesn't quite break ground in the same way as those earlier records, there are some major highlights to be found. The album's opener and first single, Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space, is a hell of a way to start things off. Keith Buckley's vicious shouts are in perfect form, along with the well-placed clean vocals scattered through the album. By the end of this first song, the tone of the album is abundantly clear: "I refuse to be the only man put to rest in a mass grave". My other favorites on this album include the energetic and brilliantly titled I Suck (Blood) and Drag King. One fun and curious standout is Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow, an almost country/western take on Everytime I Die laden with Banjos and Folky lyrics.
Ex Lives is relatively consistent and has many songs that should fit well with the band's live set, but there are a few less remarkable spots. The album is dragged down by a few songs that sound like filler, like songs that ETID felt the need to write so they wouldn't just be releasing an "EP". But even with this, the bands style, from the screams to the riffs to the gritty and fun breakdowns, is very much intact on Ex Lives.
7/10
Favorite Songs: Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space, I Suck (Blood), Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow, Drag King, Grudge Music
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1gi_aOe334[/youtube]
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