Every Time I Die are without a doubt one of the most popular of today's crop of metallic hardcore bands. The band is famous for its witty and sadistic lyrical imagery, unrelenting riffs, and chaotic live show. With their popularity established, Undecided Records has decided to re-master and re-release their five song debut EP, The Burial Plot Bidding War, after being out of print for two years.
While I do not listen to much hardcore music these days, Every Time I Die are one of the few bands in the genre that I can enjoy. Their two full length albums, Last Night in Town and Hot Damn!, are both fun albums to rock out to on occasion. The Burial Plot Bidding War is where it all began for these gentlemen from upstate New York and is certainly a much rawer and less refined recording that their later releases. Perhaps I made the mistake of reviewing this album right after reviewing a couple of Converge releases, but it is clear that these songs were clearly influenced by the aforementioned band, and ultimately pale in comparison.
The Burial Plot Bidding War is probably heavier than ETID's more recent albums, but also lacks a defined sound and any standout tracks. Everything here all runs together and sounds like any other of the dozens of metalcore bands influenced by Converge. If you are a die-hard ETID fan and are curious as to where the band got its start go ahead and pick this up. While I would recommend either of the other ETID full lengths, it seems that this EP was out of print for good reason.
1.5/4
