Every Time I Die: The Definite Ranking Of Their Discography

As it stands, EVERY TIME I DIE are no more. After a few very public statements, it seems band members Jordan Buckley, Andy Williams, Stephen Micciche and Clayton ‘Goose’ Holyoak are going one way, and frontman Keith Buckley is going another. It’s easy to feel sad at the loss of one of the world’s finest ever hardcore bands, or to get lost in speculation over who said what and when, but it’s far more important to remember and celebrate the incredible legacy the band leave behind. In that spirit, we’ve had a go at ranking all nine of their studio albums. It’s no mean feat, with most of these records separated by the very finest of margins, but here goes nothing:

9. Last Night In Town (2001)

Don’t let this record’s position at the bottom of this list fool you. While EVERY TIME I DIE would unquestionably go on to bigger and better things, their 2001 debut full-length, like The Burial Plot Bidding War EP before it, remains a fine example of early 00s chaotic metalcore. It absolutely refuses to sit still, and you can already hear hints of the band ETID would become, namely in the record’s seemingly unending procession of massive riffs and breakdowns, as well as in the inimitable, irreverent mania of Keith Buckley’s vocals.

8. New Junk Aesthetic (2009)

By 2009, ETID were a well established hardcore juggernaut. New Junk Aesthetic – their Epitaph Records debut – proved this further still, hitting listeners with 11 tracks (13 on the deluxe edition) which delivered on all the aggro one could ask for. Standing tall among them was second track The Marvelous Slut, whose blistering sub-two-minute runtime featured ferocious guest backing vocals from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN’s Greg Puciato, and Wanderlust, whose propulsive groove and clean vocals turned it into an instant setlist staple.

7. Ex Lives (2012)

Boasting arguably their most memorable album opener in Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space’s desperate cries of “I want to be dead with my friends”, Ex Lives saw ETID continuing to push the envelope while losing none of their visceral edge. As well as providing ragers galore, the band found time to flirt with banjos (Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow), stadium rock choruses (Revival Mode) and psychedelic hypnoticism (Indian Giver) for the highest charting album of their career.

6. Gutter Phenomenon (2005)

While they would go on to perfect and expand upon it, it was with Gutter Phenomenon that ETID found their winning formula. Moving away slightly from the unadulterated chaos of their first two albums, it saw the band draw in more of a southern rock influence for 34 minutes of rabble-rousing hardcore befitting of their legendary live shows. It also kickstarted ETID’s tradition of featuring guest vocalists on their records, with Gerard Way of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and Daryl Palumbo of GLASSJAW lending their talents to Kill The Music and Champing At The Bit respectively.

5. Hot Damn! (2003)

A noticeable refinement on the chaos of Last Night In Town, Hot Damn! is nothing short of a metalcore essential. It’s here where ETID’s identity began to shine through, with the record boasting multiple tracks that would go on to become setlist staples in Floater, Ebolarama and Romeo A Go-Go. At 27 minutes in length, it’s the band’s shortest album, and arguably their most urgent as a result. In between the verified ragers came In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong – a floating, melodic number that hinted at a band capable of more than just firing up a mosh pit.

4. Low Teens (2016)

In his statement following the band’s demise, Keith Buckley said that ETID should have broken up in 2014. Thank goodness they didn’t however, as the years that followed saw them produce quite possibly their finest run of records. Landing smack bang in the middle of these was 2016’s Low Teens – an album whose placing on this list may prove controversially low to some, but rest assured we’re splitting hairs here. Produced to perfection by Will Putney, it boasts pretty much everything ETID do best: swaggering southern-fried riffs, arena-ready melodies in tracks like It Remembers and Map Change, and hardcore ferocity at every twist and turn.

3. From Parts Unknown (2014)

Arriving two years before Low Teens to kick off the aforementioned late career run, From Parts Unknown marked ETID’s first and only team-up with producer and CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou. Delivering on that salivating prospect in spades, tracks like The Great Secret, Decayin’ With The Boys and Idiot offered more than enough to satiate the most viciously-inclined fans, while Moor‘s lurch from piano-led menace to sludgy hardcore fury saw it stand unlike anything else in the band’s enviable discography. Proof if ever you needed it that ETID’s feet would remain firmly on the accelerator as they entered what were to become the latter days of their career.

2. Radical (2021)

Although we weren’t to know it at the time, Radical has since become a fitting swansong for ETID. Kicking off with the absolutely monstrous Dark Distance, the life and fury contained within these 16 tracks offered no hint of a band on their last legs. Keith is at the top of his game, aiming his scathing ire at the world at large over a band who match his ferocity every step of the way. Pushing boundaries to the very end with tracks like the haunting Thing With Feathers and the prog-tinged We Go Together, as farewells go, you couldn’t ask for more than this.

1. The Big Dirty (2007)

Honestly, there’s an argument to be made that any of these records – or at least the top eight – could justifiably take the number one spot here, but for us it doesn’t get any better than 2007’s The Big Dirty. Striking an inch-perfect balance between metallic hardcore savagery and massive southern rock riffing, in tracks like No Son Of Mine, We’rewolf and INRIhab it boasts some of the most straight-up shit-kickers ETID would ever put to tape, which is definitely saying something. With a rabid, preacher-like Keith conducting proceedings from the front, there’s not a day where this record could ever fail to raise the pulses of all who listen. In the much-quoted words of its closer Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery: “It is better to destroy, than to create what is meaningless” – thank you EVERY TIME I DIE.

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