Every Time I Die - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 15/11/17

You know the last gig review I did? Where I said I hadn't been to a gig in a long time? Yeah, well, that's been quickly rectified. This show was my second show in 2 days, and who better to spend that time with than Every Time I Die and their their loyal cult of Etidiots. Little bit of personal backstory; Every Time I Die are my favourite band of all time, and have been for well over 10 years. The first time I heard about them was by attending a My Chemical Romance show in Wolverhampton, and they were they main support. Up until that day, I hadn't heard anything that made me feel or react the way their set did. The next day I went to my local HMV in Tamworth (RIP) and bought a copy of Gutter Phenomenon, and the rest is history. I went on to track down the rest of their back catalogue, as well as buy every new record when it comes out. I used to listen to the songs and read the lyric booklet to ensure I had all of Keith Buckley's cryptic, sarcastic and intricate words memorised. More importantly, though, every time they come over to our shores I make sure I attend at least one date on the tour. I've lost count of how many times I've seen them, I just know it's a lot. Which brings me to this show. And I was excited.

Higher Power

Opening the show was Higher Power, a band who I've heard of but never listened to. I made an assumption that they would be a hardcore band, and I was sort of right. Musically they sounded like old school metal with a modern hardcore feel. Even the guitar tone was similar to old Metallica records, which gave the thick chordy riffs an even more classic feel. The vocals were completely unexpected, though. I guess nowadays you just expect new bands in this scene to have a screamer as a vocalist. This was the opposite; none at all. I didn't latch onto it straight away, and found it kind of difficult to get my head around at first. By the time their set had ended, though, they had completely won me over. I was appreciatively nodding along to every riff, scrunching my face at all the dirty bits. It was great. This is exactly the kind of band I expect the boys to bring on tour. Something a little bit different.

Knocked Loose

Next up was the main support, Knocked Loose. These guys have been rapidly developing a fan base both in this country and in their homeland of the USA, and for good reason. They're unique. I joined the party fashionably late, only getting into their most recent release Laugh Tracks a couple of months ago, but now I'm at the party I don't want to leave. 11 tracks of heavy, sludgy, unrelenting noise. I was so intrigued to see if they could pull it off live, and unsurprisingly, they did. In places it was like watching them record the album. Highlights of the set for me were the obnoxiously heavy Oblivions Peak and single Billy No Mates. But I've got to give a special mention to No Thanks going straight into the minute long moshfest that is Counting Worms, complete with loud and enthusiastic barking from the crowd. If that didn't warm the crowd up for the oncoming storm, I don't know what would.

Every Time I Die. Photography by Ryan Winstanley

And so, it's time. The boys. Every Time I Die took the stage. Before I go on talking about their set, it's worth noting a few things. Jordan Buckley (guitar) broke his foot the previous night, but still walked out on stage with a special boot-cast. Their drummer Dan Davison left a couple of months ago, and had been replaced on this run by Norma Jean's drummer affectionately referred to as Goose. Keith also took a moment to let us know that the zipper on his jeans had broken, which although wasn't as serious as the issues previously mentioned, was still an issue. Amidst a wall of feedback and guitar wails, they launched straight into No Son Of Mine without warning. The room erupted with approval; a pit opened up before the first chord had finished and hordes of people were spitting the lyrics straight back at the stage (myself included). They then began playing Floater, another big favourite amongst fans, and the pit just got bigger and wilder. The chaos had already begun.

Every Time I Die. Photography by Ryan Winstanley

They continued to storm through a mixture of both new and old material stretching all over their back catalogue. From the recent belter with a hilarious video I Didn't Want To Join Your Stupid Cult Anyway all the way back to old mosh-tastic Romeo A Go-Go, the latter of which I'd never seen them perform before. Crowd favourites Bored Stiff and Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space went down an absolute storm, with every single guitar note hitting like a ton of bricks, and lighter more party anthem-like tracks We'rewolf and The New Black almost echoed through the venue due to the number of people singing along. They may have been injured, and they may have had some line-up complications, but this was possibly the tightest I've ever seen them. Jordan was still running about and jumping around like his foot wasn't in a cast at all, Goose was faultless behind the kit, and Keith's zipper didn't cause him too many issues. They closed the set with the opener of Low Teens, the heavy and crushing Fear and Trembling. A weighty, wall of noise to bring a chaotic night to an end. I was left speechless. So was most of the crowd. Their longest set I've ever seen, and also their best. They didn't disappoint. But, to be honest, they never do.

The tour left the country for the second time a couple of days back, and now they have the legendary Comeback Kid along for the ride too. If you managed to get to a show, you know how mind blowingly good it was. If you didn't, trust me, you NEED to see these guys in the future. There's no show like an Every Time I Die show.

D.S

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Stray From The Path - Only Death Is Real

Stray From The Path are an absolute force to be reckoned with. Always have been, always will be. Their albums are punishing, their live show is unrelenting, and their message is powerful and passionate. I say this with some level of bias, as I've been a fan of Stray ever since Make Your Own History back in 2009, and they quickly became one of my favourite bands. For those that are yet to discover these guys, they display a Rage Against The Machine style delivery with a modern twist. Breakdowns and chugs a plenty, both musical and vocal hooks, they're a mixture of everything that's good about the genre and ram it down your throats without giving you a chance to chew. Today, they released their new album Only Death Is Real, and I felt compelled to review it. I just had to.

Right from the off, they set the tone for the entire album on opener "The Opening Move". They pack everything that follows into 1:30. Choppy guitar stabs that develop into a giant wall of riff, heavy and technical drums, Drew's trademark distressed angry vocals, changes of feel, changes of pace. If you like the first track, you will love everything that follows. The shrieks of the guitars married with the sludgy bass in "Loudest In The Room", the Tom Morello styled riffing, strong political message and a headbang approved breakdown in single "Goodnight Alt Right", the single string riff groove of "Plead The Fifth". Every track possesses something different, but doesn't stray from the formula (no pun intended, but I'll roll with it) in any way.

There were a number of nice surprises I came across during this album. The first being the track "They Always Take The Guru". The track begins with a breakneck speed drum fill, and immediately floods into a runaway train of riffs and vocals. It keeps pulling out punches the entire way through, surprising you with more riffs when you don't think there could be room for anymore, gradually getting heavier and heavier until it climaxes with a lyric that made me think. Is this track a nod to Tom Searle, the late Architects guitarist? The final lyric of the song is "Now you're gone with the wind, everything is still. I'll stay here forever, to watch what you've built." I then went back and listened for a second time, and noticed lyrics such as "You don't know what you've got til it's gone" and "It's nights like these that remind me that we are all temporary". Stray From The Path are good friends of Architects, so it wouldn't surprise me if at all if this song is a tribute to him. And what a tribute.

Another surprise were the guest vocalists on the record. The first that you come across is Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die) on "Strange Fiction", which was a nice surprise for me personally as he's the vocalist of my favourite band. He nails it, by the way, but what else would you expect from Keith? He's one of the best vocalists in the game. His delivery is unique and unmistakable, and it compliments the outro of this track perfectly. The next guest spot comes from Bryan Garris (Knocked Loose) on "All Day and Night", and this one is a little marmite in my opinion. Bryan's vocals are very love or hate, his high pitched angry delivery isn't to everyone's taste, but if you've ever listened to Knocked Loose, it works. The section of this song that has Bryans vocals is very similar to a Knocked Loose track. The guitars are chuggy and thick, the pace slows right down, the drums are being smashed with such force, and I think it's great. The pit potential for it insane, I can see the dust clouds at festivals already. The final guest vocal comes from Vinnie Paz (Jedi Mind Tricks) on single "The House Always Wins". This is the one that feels the most out of place, but it isn't a complete surprise. It's no secret that the band have a love for hip hop, you can hear it in how the lyrics are delivered, and they had rapper Cody B. Ware guest on their previous album Subliminal Criminals. The track Cody guested on had a more hip hop vibe to it, stripped down and had more of a focus on drums and bass, whereas this track is a more no holds barred, full frontal assault. Vinnie's section is lyrically powerful, and has a very strong political message, but it just doesn't sit right in my ears. No doubt I'll learn to love it, but initially it's just not for me. But the track itself is great. A full on aural assault, and lyrically aims its crosshair directly the White House and the current president of the United States. All 10 tracks on this album possess some form of political message, and it's one of the things that makes Stray stand out from the crowd. They know what their views are, they're passionate about them, and they aren't trying to push their views on you. They just want you to listen.

All in all, this album is another corker to add to their catalogue. Would I say it's better than their previous album? No. Would I say it comes close? Yes. Very close. I think that Stray From The Path have completely found their formula and they're consistently releasing banger after banger. If you love Rage Against The Machine and also bands like The Chariot, Every Time I Die and Norma Jean, give this album a spin. If you can get into this album, you'll more than likely get into everything else they've done. Grab it on iTunes, listen to it on Spotify, go and grab a copy from HMV or something. Whatever you do, don't sleep on this album. I don't think these guys are going to be playing intimate venues for much longer.

D.S

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