Every Time I Die

The striking cover image of Every Time I Die, decked out Reservoir Dogs-style, beating the tar out of some poor jerk, is the first hint that Last Night In Town is going to be unique and different. "It's really dark, really sarcastic," comments guitarist Jordan (no last name). "Dark and sarcastic describes both the lyrics and the music of this band perfectly" Their debut EP, The Burial Plot Bidding War (Goodfellow), was an excellent offering, holding its own against complicated stalwarts yet promising more to come, but one that Last Night... leaves in the dust. Conceptually darker, lyrically and artistically, laced with black-humour, technical excursions, metallic breaks, intertwining and eclectic guitar work, precision playing and melodic shifts in the dynamic, vocals both brutal and sung, yet offering something usually ignored in aggressive music, hooks, Last Night... is an impressive album. However, their darkly sarcastic outlook and lyrics, cocky swagger and progressive musical leanings seem to be cultivating as much favour as criticism from the notoriously PC realm of hardcore. "The fact that we don't take things that seriously makes it look like we take it too seriously," offers Jordan. "I think it's way too hard to not be disliked by everyone, so instead of trying to liked, I think we're good at doing whatever we want so we just stick with that. There are a lot of people out there who like to hate us, and I'd rather be in that category than the hardcore hero. We'd rather be hated for doing new things than liked for doing everything that's already been done." However, one thing currently raising Every Time I Die's ire is the notion that any band in technical hardcore can be simply dismissed as Dillinger, Converge or Deadguy clones. A dismissal Jordan views as insulting and lazy. "Obviously we listen to all kinds of CDs and there's all kinds of influences, but just because Dillinger was the first to be really technical, it's unfair for the next technical band to be called a rip-off. I'm a firm believer that we are doing 100 percent original material. Just because we're not the first band to take on this genre, it doesn't mean it's not good music."