On each occasion that EVERY TIME I DIE return, it feel like an event. Consistantly interesting and uncompromising throughout their last five efforts, the band could have gotten away with resting on their laurels for ‘Ex Lives’ – fortunately for everyone though, the thought didn’t even seem to cross their mind.
Keith Buckley leads the charge with expectedly powerful vocals, and the musicianship underneath his snarls and vitriolic lyrics seems to go from strength to strength as the album progresses. Though it can be regarded as an experimental effort for the band, ‘Ex Lives’ is as much classic EVERY TIME I DIE as it is a reflection of the way they’ve grown, and it’s a gripping and ballsy listen because of it.
The empassioned screams of “I want to be dead with my friends” launch album opener ‘Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space’, and there’s barely a moment to catch breath until the plucked intro of ‘Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow’ arrives six tracks later. The lumbering half times of ‘Revival Mode’ and ‘Business Casulaty’ provide the sludigest moments of the album, but both fit in well, and by the end of the album’s 14 tracks, it dares you to come back for another listen.
At a time where musical ability and styles evolve faster than the recording industry can keep up with, it’s to bands like EVERY TIME I DIE that we should look for an example of true balance between heaviness, memorability and just being plain fucking brilliant.
If there was a record that could cement the band’s fine status in the alternative music scene any further – it’s ‘Ex Lives’, and it’s a must-hear for any heavy music fan.
TOM AYLOTT