Like every other EVERY TIME I DIE album, I had to listen to Gutter Phenomenon a bunch of times to finally come around and like the album. The eventual outcome will be a love for it. It’s a certain familiarity you get when you know exactly what parts of the songs and the sounds and lyrics of the album that gets you riled up. And, with EVERY TIME I DIE, their heavy noodling, intense speeds, screeching guitar cries, and addictive vocals are all too familiar anyway. Despite what many will say is too much progression by the band, EVERY TIME I DIE has put out a record that remains, first and foremost, sounding exactly like EVERY TIME I DIE should. Granted, there are some unnecessary annoying parts, but the good outweighs the bad tenfold. Gutter Phenomenon is an outstanding album, and fans of EVERY TIME I DIE should be pleased greatly. EVERY TIME I DIE’s strengths are their vocals and their subtle and blasting breakdowns. I’ve stated how great Keith Buckley is on numerous occasions, and he does yet another amazing job with this album. Unfortunately, he has picked up some clean vocal habits that I’m not too fond of. Specifically in “The New Black” where his clean vocals create this terrible aura of mainstreamness. Makes me shiver, but Keith quickly makes up for it. His vocals throughout the entire album are still as impressive as they were on every other of their releases. There’s a lot of quality, whiny singalong parts that will definitely make it hard for people to keep their breaths at shows. For example, in “Champing At The Bit”, with some help from Daryl Palumbo, lyrics like “But it’s ok we’ve got old blood and our veins are rooted to the hornets nest again” and so forth, you can bet that singalong is going to tire some people out. The lyrics are excellent once again. Everything is so interesting about them. Plus, EVERY TIME I DIE continues their excellent and clever song names with songs like “Apocalypse Now And Then” and “Guitared And Feathered”. Everything about it is fantastic. I absolutely love the artwork in the booklet and the cover as well. The animals with the guitars are rad as hell. The layout is great too, because the lyrics are printed on it’s sides, so you have to read them like you were going through a calendar. Of course, the album begins with some awesome, yet expected, heavy noodling, with vintage EVERY TIME I DIE vocals. The fun never stops though, as the album twists and turns through 35 minutes of hardcore rock n’ roll. The guitars could have been a little crunchier for an added punchy effect, but it sounds great as it is. You definitely get your fill of dance parts, breakdowns, singalongs, cowbell, and just plain chaos. What more can you ask for? The answer is probably “more of the same”. That was what I asked for after Hot Damn! and I was thoroughly given, and then some. Check out Gutter Phenomenon, because it really is damn good.

Ferret

www.ferretstyle.com