Every Time I Die
The Big Dirty

December 2007
Released: 2007, Ferret Music
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Hanntu

It was with great trepidation I approached Every Time I Die’s new album THE BIG DIRTY. The volume of metalcore releases today suggests that contrary to what many believe, it’s not a scene that’s on its last legs. Alternatively called “The New Wave of American Heavy Metal”, it actually appears to be going from strength to strength, with bands like Shadows Fall, Chimaira, Lamb of God, Trivium etc touring, thriving and making it to the covers of Guitar World and Kerrang, and reaching millions of folk.



THE BIG DIRTY features simplistic repeated riffing, with an irritating personality-less shout that sounds like every other metalcore band out there, see Chimaira and Lamb of God who did it first and better. There’s a bit more tempo than is normal, and the album kicks off at a nice clip with “No Son of Mine”. But the album suffers from a severe lack of originality or stand-out qualities. By the time I’ve reached this point in the review, five songs have already gone by without me hearing anything to pick up on. And it just carries on. There’s a slight Southern twang to “We’rewolf” and “Rendez-voodoo” and that’s about all the variation you’re going to get.



However the songwriting really surprised me, there is actually some catchy and funny lyrics in the album. I don’t know if they’re tongue in cheek, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume so. There’s a weird anti-hunting (?) drift to “A Gentleman’s Sport” (duh, the clue’s in the title), and a lot of the other lyrics are just off-the-wall, random, left-field. Much of it I haven’t bothered to read through and nitpick in detail, and as a result I haven’t gotten much of what they allude to, but on surface reading, the lyrics appear to be more than your average “Fuck you motherfucker” incoherence or “boo-hoo-waa-waa” screamo pap. They obviously delight in the pun as well, check out their song titles to see what I mean.



In conclusion, I wouldn’t buy this album. But you might. Check them out at their Myspace page. Or you could grab some Lamb of God and be slightly more thrilled.