It takes only a few seconds for ‘Radical’ to produce 2021’s best mosh call. As Every Time I Die’s ninth album winds up, Keith Buckley seizes the microphone and, over screeching guitar feedback, yells: “Spare only the ones I love, slay the rest.”
It’s an opening line of Herculean proportions, but the following 50 minutes of music doesn’t once threaten to dip below its high watermark. ‘Radical’ ought to carry a health warning: it must only be listened to with one’s head secured firmly to one’s shoulders. Otherwise, its unrelenting heaviness could send it rolling right off.
The LP manages to be as unrelenting as it is because the Buffalo mosh masters understand that there are multiple ways to create truly crushing sounds.
The breathless Distress Rehearsal goes so hard that it straddles the boundary between music and noise, and yet it contrasts this frenzied charge with bursts of technicality in its guitar line.
The Whip also favours out and out speed, delivering frantic chugs that pave the way for a gravel-laced breakdown, but A Colossal Wreck gets the job done through totally different means. Despite its lightning fast pace, its breakdown is sludgy and weighty, creating a heaviness that sinks satisfyingly through the body.
It would be criminal to forget, though, that Every Time I Die can do infectious melody as well as blow-your-head-off heavy. The coolly angsty lead single Post-Boredom is as likely to have listeners singing and dancing as it is moshing, while Thing With Feathers displays palate-cleansing intricacy that proves softer rock doesn’t have to be boring to suit a radio playlist.
The amount of variety here is impressive on its own, but what makes it spectacular is the way it sustains momentum on a record that, at 16 tracks, could easily have dragged or been stuffed with filler. Whatever your current album of the year is, ‘Radical’ is going to give it a run for its money.
Every Time I Die Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed January 26 2022 - BRISTOL Motion
Thu January 27 2022 - BRIGHTON Chalk
Fri January 28 2022 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Sat January 29 2022 - MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
Sun January 30 2022 - LIVERPOOL Invisible Wind Factory
Tue February 01 2022 - GLASGOW SWG3 Galvanizers
Wed February 02 2022 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Boiler Shop
Thu February 03 2022 - LEEDS Leeds Uni Stylus
Fri February 04 2022 - SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
Sat February 05 2022 - LONDON Roundhouse
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