Every Time I Die
ETID makes a glorious hardcore-punk noise, alchemized by a swampy summoning of Southern rock’s coarse poetry. The music swirls beneath sardonic and clever wordplay, a combination cementing them as leaders, not followers. The band is recognized and revered for its anarchic explosiveness, artistic impulsiveness, and approachable camaraderie. It’s all interwoven with a visceral lack of the usual fucks. Revolver counted 2016’s Low Teens among the 25 Best Albums of the 2010s, and the follow-up, Radical, is no less revelatory. Once again produced by Will Putney (A Day To Remember, The Ghost Inside, Body Count), Radical is 16 tracks of peak-ETID, including raucous new anthems like “Post-Boredom,” “Planet Shit,” “A Colossal Wreck,” “Desperate Pleasures,” and “AWOL.”
Metal Hammer describes ETID as “one of the best live bands that you will ever see.” The diverse nature of their touring partners in recent years speaks volumes about their unique appeal: Fall Out Boy and Machine Gun Kelly; Coheed And Cambria and Mastodon. They’re Brendon Urie’s favorite band (the Panic! At The Disco singer even has an ETID tattoo) and dominated Ozzfest at the touring festival’s peak. The fivesome’s ability to thrive in disparate environments and the diversity of their following is a direct result of a steadfast focus on creative authenticity and resistance to outside forces.
When Kerrang! asked Keith, in a 2019 interview, how the band stays ahead of the curve, he replied, “We don’t pay attention to the curve.” As the same article rightly observed: “Longevity is something that every band hopes to find in their careers. For Every Time I Die, that dream has become a reality.”
In pushing the limits of standard chaos, Candy has been a transitory force within the hardcore music scene since their debut in 2017. Refusing to adhere to the paradigms and principles of hardcore, punk, metal, pop, or whatever genre the listener has tried to assign them; they’ve manufactured a space all their own.
During the fall of 2017, Candy ushered it’s audience into their dystopian soundscape with the breakout 7” Candy Says. Synthesizing global influences from across the punk/hardcore spectrum, from forefathers such as Bastard, Discharge, Cro-Mags, and Integrity, the group demonstrated their ability to match the energy of their inspirators while providing a uniquely visceral experience all theirs. Front man Zak Quiram’s guttural bellows propelled with Michael Quick’s contemplative guitar work, we see all the working parts of a band hell bent on warping the reality of its listener. Use of chorus pedals over down-tuned guitars further affirms the saccharine & grotesque dichotomy that has become Candy’s calling card.
Aligning with the esteemed engineer and producer Arthur Rizk, Candy achieved the type of artistry that transcends the confines of its own medium, with their first full length record “Good to Feel.” “A psychotic joyride” one could argue, “only one misstep away from self-induced obliteration.” Noise and image bled together throughout the albums’ brief but resounding 9 song track list. Lyrically, Quiram addressed the rampant environmental devastation, suicidal ideation, police violence, and corruption that plagues the news cycle, while fellow band members provided its soundtrack.
Following the release of their debut full-length, Candy left an impression on spectators near and far with their brooding and bloody performances. Touring alongside contemporaries, such as Fucked Up, Terror, and Harms Way, as well as making appearances with hardcore icons like Quicksand and Iron Age, showed bystanders that the company they keep reflect their larger rejection of genre conformity.
In their latest lockstep along the yellow brick, Candy has found an ally in Relapse Records. Having shared the stage with acts from Relapse’s roster, such as Full of Hell, Nothing and Gatecreeper, the band is geared to make some of their most jarring, yet satiating, musical offerings to date.
