Every Time I Die – The Big Dirty

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Ferret Music
Produced by Steve Evetts

Skipping past the most ridiculous, pretentious bullsh*t ever seen clogging up a press release, what is there to find in the paltry 36-minutes of The Big Dirty, Brooklyn, NY residents Every Time I Die’s fourth offering?

Although arguably the grooving, slightly punky, slightly southern riffology of The Big Dirty, probably the most accessible exposure to Every Time I Die available, could benefit from some less metalcore, more Phil Anselmo-esque vocals, and certainly some more songs, or longer songs perhaps, it’s otherwise a huge, dirty slab of the purest of ultra-heavy metal.

Elements of Lamb of God and Down (although the band cite Pantera as an influence) can be heard, resulting in a groove-laden, brutal metal sound. Vocalist Keith Buckley’s screams don’t suffer from the usual problem of incomprehensibility that most modern extreme vocalist are plagued by, and as such these songs are much more listenable than the majority of their contemporaries.

Much of the album follows a similar pattern of bludgeoning riffs and aggressive vocals with, it has to be said, very little variation. Occasionally things change tact, the punky breaks in We’reworld, for instance, or the Volbeat/Fireball Ministry rock ‘n’ roll feel of Rendez-voodoo, but not often.

But perhaps the lack of variety is an argument against the album being longer. At 36-minutes perhaps this is just right and any more would start to wear thin. As it is the album’s longest track, INRIhab (incidentally the most traditional track here), is just 4:04, and picking out key tracks or highlights isn’t the easiest of tasks. But at a push it’d have to be Leatherneck for its monumental riff.

Either the short length or the similarity of all of the songs loses this one star, either could be at fault. Otherwise it’s a perfect short, sharp injection of aggressive metal, ideal for fans of Lamb of God and similar.

“ purest of metal ”

Tracklist: No Son of Mine / Pigs Is Pigs / Leatherneck / We’rewolf / Rebel Without Applause / Cities And Years / Rendez-voodoo / A Gentlemans Sport / INRIhab / Depressionista / Buffalo Girls / Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Battery

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2007, Albums, Heavy Metal (Extreme Vocals), Every Time I Die