IN REVIEW: Every Time I Die - "From Parts Unknown"

Over the course of their career, Every Time I Die have managed to (at least to an extent) have it both ways; they've enjoyed a more or less consistent fan base while exercising the freedom to explore new sounds and moods with their music. Maybe this is because, for the most part, even their most experimental songs have the same DNA at their core (no pun intended). As far out as they travel, home has always been the cozy confines of spastic, Converge-like metalcore. It should come as no surprise, then, that From Parts Unknown is the most they've sounded like themselves in a while considering the co-production of Converge's Kurt Ballou.

Indeed, From Parts Unknown brings the menace early and often. A fleeting, sinister dozen seconds open The Great Secret before the song explodes with "blow your fucking brains out" being the first words uttered by lead singer/screamer Keith Buckley amongst slashing guitars and jackhammer drums. It's a quick outburst that's followed by several dynamic shifts in tempo and tone throughout the track while never really lifting boot from throat. There is a lot of thrashing to be had on this album, from the deadly speed of Pelican of the Desert and All Structures Are Unstable to the pummeling technical attacks of Overstayer, Exometrium, Thirst and If There Is Room To Move, Things Move, which would be the most furiously punishing thing on the album if they didn't absolutely reduce it to rubble and ashes on absolutely monstrous closer Idiot.

Then, there's the slightly less murderous but no less punchy tendencies of lead single Decayin' With the Boys, a driving and slightly melodic track with some groove that likely pegged it the single by default. However, the only choice for follow-up single is Old Light, a riff happy rager that features a huge chorus guest shot by Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon. It's sure to rub some old school fans the wrong way, but as a fan of both bands it's really thrilling to hear the two disparate styles co-exist on a single track.

It wouldn't be an ETID album without at least one out-of-nowhere shocking left turn, and it comes in the form of Moor. For nearly a minute and a half, it simply plods along on a clean vocal, stabbing piano and eerie atmospherics. What it amounts to, ultimately, is a tentative footing on shaky ground, a tiny island in a sea of distortion; soon enough, you're swallowed by the noise again, a particularly surly drop-A guitar tuning and especially pained vocal performance by Buckley.

From Parts Unknown won't define the career of Every Time I Die; most longtime fans will point to their earlier, hungrier sounding work, and newcomers will potentially be put off by its relentless ferocity. That said, it's a hell of a progress report, an album that serves to remind us just how good they've gotten at their craft. Impressive in its execution and as intelligent as it is incendiary, From Parts Unknown is the work of a band that's mastered the fine art of destruction.

July 1, 2014 • Epitaph

Highlights If There Is Room to Move, Things Move • Moor • Old Light