Apart from providing some insight to the contents of the promo that you hold in your hands, the press release paper is the label's best attempt at trying to convince you that the album you are about to hear is the best damn effort ever released. I'm telling you: if I was given a penny every time that I come across the words 'unique' and 'brilliant' I would be a billionaire by now! With that in mind, I do believe that the person which prepared the humorous accompanying document of "The Big Dirty" should be given some kind of medal, seeing as it was not only very entertaining, but also quite informative and accurate in describing the music of the Buffalo-based quartet Every Time I Die.

You have probably noticed that in my opening sentence I avoided using any specific term in order to describe the band's music - why? Well, most people tend to label Every Time I Die as a metalcore outfit, and even though you can trace such elements in the core of the majority of the twelve compositions that are featured here, I personally find such term limiting and erroneous. As a huge fan of Voivod's music, I instantly traced their influence throughout this release, both in terms of compositional arrangements and attitude and that was enough of a motivation for me to invest in the music on offer.

The opening track of the album "No Son Of Mine" is a typical example of the band's positive attitude towards musical experimentation. Even though this composition consists of many simple melodic themes, they are arranged in an unusual way with the purpose of becoming challenging to the listener. Personally speaking, I find such attempts quite welcoming, but I do believe that a certain level of skill has to be achieved first in order to ensure that these efforts are crowned with success - a level that the members of this band are heading towards but haven't quite reached yet.

As a result, compositions like the fast-paced "Rebel Without Applause", the multi-layered "Cities And Years" and "A Gentlemans Sport" were slightly difficult to digest. On the other hand, every time the band decided to bring forth the 'grooviest' elements of their character, the result was overwhelming. The main melodic theme of "We'Rewolf" was an instant success and the same applies with the Voivodesque groovy tunes and the Danzig-influenced vocal melodies of both "Rendez-Voodoo" and "INRIhab". Fans of late Voivod should also invest in "Buffalo Gals" - a fast pace Rock n'Roll sounding composition which displays not only the grooviest tunes of the album, but also a very impressive vocal performance by the band's frontman and ex tenth grade English teacher Keith Buckley.

Listening to "The Big Dirty" made me realise that there are still some young bands out there that are trying to make a difference with their music and that is indeed very encouraging. Nothing would have been easier for these guys but to 'jump on the bandwagon' and release another average metalcore album - the fact that they chose not to may currently seem like a bad career move, yet I have a feeling that they will be rewarded for that decision in the years to come.

***½

Review by John Stefanis