{"id":32475,"date":"2012-10-31T18:01:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T18:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/versus-every-time-i-die-new-junk-aesthetic-vs\/"},"modified":"2023-08-19T16:38:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T15:38:21","slug":"versus-every-time-i-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/versus-every-time-i-die\/","title":{"rendered":"Versus: Every Time I Die – ‘New Junk Aesthetic’ Vs ‘Ex Lives’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The underground heavyweights throwing hardcore, metal and southern rock into a cage and seeing who might just get out alive. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Every Time I Die<\/strong>; heroes and legends in every right and not capable of releasing a bad record (fact).<\/p>\n

And of course, that leads us to our very own \u2018Versus\u2019 feature and that one question everybody wants to ask the great one in the sky. No, not the meaning of life question\u2026 the question about which album is best (The meaning of life is to listen to Every Time I Die<\/strong> of course). So, Aaron Lohan and Mikey Brown bring ‘New Junk Aesthetic\u2019<\/em> and ‘Ex Lives\u2019<\/em> respectively to the cage. Be prepared for blood\u2026<\/p>\n

Let us know what you think on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018New Junk Aesthetic\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(by Aaron Lohan)<\/h2>\n

If you were to ask me \u201cwhat is the best album by southern metal-infused hardcore heroes Every Time I Die<\/strong>?\u201d, then you would basically find the little man powering the wheels of my brain to become crushed and overwhelmed by the huge cogs that keep my mind in motion. Every Time I Die<\/strong> is one of a small minority of bands who have the desirable talent of making a record that is superior to the records that precede it. It is an abomination to deny that the band\u2019s latest effort \u2018Ex Lives\u2019<\/em> continues the ever increasing sky dizzying epitome that they have made with every ounce of blood and sweat. However, whilst on one hand you could say that \u2018Ex Lives\u2019<\/em> is their definitive based on my aforementioned summary of it, after much calculation and cosmic soul searching, I believe that the band\u2019s best effort lies in the musical and lyrical cellular structure of their fifth full length \u2018New Junk Aesthetic\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Combining all the best elements that made their previous efforts such as the frantic tenacity of \u2018Hot Damn!\u2019<\/em> and the hooky hard rock structure of \u2018The Big Dirty\u2019<\/em>, \u2018New Junk Aesthetic\u2019<\/em> has a bold and crisp production that saw a cult phenomenon achieve a focused state of being that would enable them to utilise all the resources and skills they had gained in their career to refresh the cycle of turning the listener inside out with their organs and bones exposed.<\/p>\n

The riffs that swarm this album are like a zombie horde coming your way, the hands of which pry at your skull, crack it open, and then let the fingers mess with the parts of the brain that are in charge of your ears. The magic behind such dirty riffery provides an oily catalyst that shifts from charged throat grabbers such as \u2018After One Quarter Of A Revolution\u2019<\/em> to slow chugging hooks as found on \u2018Roman Holiday\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Lead vocalist Keith Buckley is unsurprisingly brilliant and unstable with his versatile mannerisms; frantically shouting as if he\u2019s stuck in his own psychiatric lock up one minute, suavely and coolly seducing you into bed with his singing voice the next. What shouldn\u2019t be ignored is the man\u2019s cryptic pen writing abilities that portray the best imagery of the last decade; lines such as \u201cI dropped my conscience and cast another stone<\/em>\u201d (\u2018Wanderlust\u2019<\/em>) and \u201cMy cancer came knocking, it was dressed to the nines so I peeled back my skin and I let it come inside<\/em>\u201d (\u2018Host Disorder\u2019<\/em>) are so cleverly written to put across themes that involve psychological and social human politics.<\/p>\n

A definite highlight of this record is the three tonne bullet of guest vocals that the band has recruited. Both Matt Caughtran of The Bronx and Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan sound completely in their own element when they unleash their vocal parts; whether it\u2019s the face melting shouts from Greg on \u2018The Marvellous Slut\u2019<\/em> or the grit fuelled antics displayed by Matt on \u2018The Sweet Life\u2019<\/em>, there is no denying that they add a much needed weight to these songs.<\/p>\n

Looking back at the beginning of my argument, I can safely say that in agreement with my own unconscious self-state of mind that the question to the best Every Time I Die<\/strong> album is indeed answerable. \u2018New Junk Aesthetic\u2019<\/em> sees the band at their most impressive and is the recommended record that will click your skull on back to front if you want to get into the band.<\/p>\n