THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The ninth studio album from Buffalo-based hardcore heroes Every Time I Die, Radical is 16 tracks of peak ETID. Alchemized by a swampy summoning of southern rock and coarse poetry, the music swirls beneath sardonic and clever wordplay, cementing the band as leaders, not followers.
While inspired by the unrest and upheaval around the world in the past five years since their previous album Low Teens, Radical focuses on humanity, decency, self-worth, and even a bit of spirituality more so than politics. “I’m dealing with difficult matters this time that aren’t only personal for me but are also universal and more communal experiences,” frontman Keith Buckley explains. “The songs are realistic in that they acknowledge that things require a lot of work. But it’s ultimately a very hopeful and uplifting record.”
Produced by Will Putney (Acacia Strain, Body Count, The Amity Affliction), Radical features raucous new anthems like Post-Boredom, Planet Shit, A Colossal Wreck, Desperate Pleasures and AWOL. They deliver what you have come to know and love and then diverge down new paths. To say that All This And War — featuring guest vocals by Josh Scogins from The ‘68 — is absolute brutal heaviness is an understatement. It’s an addictive punch in the face, but one you’ll want on repeat. The boys then run off to explore the dark haunted woods of a more somber and melodic side in Thing With Feathers, featuring Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra.
Then there’s Post-Boredom, a mixture of the nihilistic realism and persistent irritated optimism that powered punk rock in the late ‘70s and post-hardcore in the early ‘90s. “Post-Boredom was the first song I ever wrote that gave me the feeling of real truth,” says Buckley. “I wasn’t hiding any secret confessions in metaphors. I was very much fed up with living an unfulfilling life and felt that I needed a death (either figuratively or literally) in order to have a fighting chance at finding new meaning. I see this song from a distance. It’s reflective but also, finally, detached. not a full ego death, but indicated that the process needed to start immediately in my own life. If you read the lyrics and it resonates with you, then you also need to recognize that you might be feeling unseen in your current form. So, what are YOU going to do about it if given the gift of death?”
Every Time I Die are a loud rock institution committed to leaving every nuanced outpouring of chaotic passion and blissful malcontent all over their records and on the stage. With boiling charisma and unrelenting energy to spare, they have managed not one but two near-impossible tasks: They’ve survived two decades as an underground entity cherished for coloring outside the lines, and contrary to most career arcs, they have continually improved with each successive album as they charge ahead. They are rightly recognized and revered for their anarchic explosiveness, artistic impulsiveness, and approachable camaraderie, all of which is interwoven with a visceral lack of the usual fucks. Radical proves with every track that it is a distillation of the strengths of their past, injected with their unyielding revelry and signature sarcasm while cognizant — and fiercely combative — of the present state of world affairs.”
