“I want to be dead with my friends” is not a line which seems to mark a vivid return of one of hardcore’s most innovative bands of the past decade. Then again, maybe ‘vivid’ never was a point of reference for Every Time I Die. Although ETID’s sound has always been fast and dynamic, Keith Buckley always managed to amplify it with a rather strong hint of gloomy irony.

That hint of irony has now turned into deep dark sarcasm. Already displayed on New Junk Aesthetic, Buckley again takes it a step further on their sixth release, Ex Lives. So no funny stuff; ETID talks business on this one.

Although they’ve seemed to put the “party-mode” off, Ex Lives still addresses that gut feeling of totally flying off the handle. Produced by Joe Barresi, who’s worked with Queens Of The Stone Age and Tool, ETID manages to provide us with one of the most interesting and unique sounding records in a long time.

Keith Buckley is not the only one who stepped up his game. Guitar players Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams manage to play their way from melodic soundscapes to insane mathematical riffing, doing what they do best, plowing through. ETID brilliantly unites aggressive with melodic, and even pay homage to the source of all guitar music, the blues (‘Typical Miracle’). They slow down when needed (‘Revival Mode)’ and in the very last moment put things in perspective (‘Starve An Artist, Cover Your Trash’).

Buckley screams out his fears, refusing to be “the only one to be put to rest in a mass-grave” (‘Underwater Bimbo’s from Outer Space’). However, fear is the last of his worries, for with the coming of Ex Lives, Every Time I Die earned its rightful place in the obituary of loud music.

Track list – Ex Lives:

01. Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space
02. Holy Book Of Dilemma
03. A Wild, Shameless Plain
04. Typical Miracle
05. I Suck (Blood)
06. Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow
07. The Low Road Has No Exits
08. Revival Mode
09. Drag King
10. Touch Yourself
11. Indian Giver
12. Grudge Music (bonus)
13. Business Casualty (bonus)
14. Starve An Artist, Cover Your Trash (bonus)

Written by Alfred van Luttikhuizen, guitarist for John Coffey.