For me Track Of The Week is a way to review that one track I’ve been listening to all week; whether its old or new, no matter the genre, only rule I give myself is that it’s a different band. Normally this is fine, normally I get into a band then a week later I’m on to another and another and that’s how it goes. Thing is, for the past two weeks now I’ve been obsessed with one band, The Dillinger Escape Plan, still rifling through their back catalogue I’m finding smash after smash after smash, not to mention I’m still in love with “Prancer” and haven’t stopped listening to it all week.
And I’d hate to bore people with even MORE Dillinger, so I thought I’d go for a song by a band that I’ve already reviewed for TOTW, but it’s a song that I have gotten into quite a bit over the last few days; Every Time I Die – “In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong”.
I’ve spoken a bit about this track a while back when I reviewed the album ‘Hot Damn!’, but this will (hopefully) be a more in depth look at it and a look at it individually and not as part of an album.
“In The Event…” could be ETID’s most mellow track they have ever recorded (to date), it’s a primarily instrumental track, with its only lyrics being the short phrase “yourokiwillbei” and even then they could be Keith Buckley’s softest spoken words ever in his life.
The track has a very similar sound to what the Deftones were doing at this point, it maybe even pre-dates it (at least them using this style on a regular basis), it’s got this almost swaying sound; it doesn’t thrash and doesn’t bang. No, this song seems to just go along, and it feels comfortable with doing so too.
It doesn’t need some trippy guitar work from either Jordan Buckley or Andy Williams, nor does it require skilled precision from bassist Stephen Micciche, this is a relaxed track that just plays. If you’re looking for those patented heavy breakdowns that ETID are known for producing and producing damn good one’s at that, don’t look here, the only breakdown you’ll get (if you could even call it a breakdown) comes near the end of the track, and is a small section where drums stop and the guitars ramp up but other than that, this song ain’t gonna get the kids moshing.
The track has this mood, it doesn’t just sound like your run of the mill instrumental track or album breather track; it’s got this aura to it, sonically it feels like a ‘sad’ song and you could easily imagine listening to it when broken-hearted or something, but then as the song kicks in and the sound slows down and Buckley’s vocals become more of the centrepiece there’s almost a sinister feel, whether that was the intention 10 years ago when it was recorded or its just what ETID are known for, I’m not too sure but to me at least it does take this sinister twist half way through.
Again maybe it’s just me (I’m not too sure what that says about me though…) but the song takes on multiple themes and tones as it goes, and even when it ends it slightly sounds triumphant, not to mention the lyrics. The lyrics are something that makes this song really special to me; first off I love how it’s displayed in the lyric booklet that comes with the album, “yourokiwillbei”, it’s simple but damn is it effective, again Buckley’s genius shines through. Plus the meaning, reading the lyrics at least it seems as though it’s somewhat positive, and maybe does relate to maybe the end of a relationship, where he’s reassuring this other person that they’ll both be OK.
On the album ‘Hot Damn!’ this is used as a breather for the listener, after having been pummelled with six high volume, high energy tracks the listener obviously needs some sort of break so this track works well at giving the listener this. At this time a lot of bands in the whole metalcore scene were doing this and it’s a great technique that frankly has become lost in this day and age, with very few bands using this to create an actual album instead of doing what so many do and just cram on as many thrashy songs so they can be seen as being “hardcore” or something. “In The Event…” shows that you can be just as “hardcore” (maybe even more) by throwing in a short slower track, plus it doesn’t hurt for a band to show that they can do more than just smash away at those three chords and for the singer to scream.
Unfortunately this track didn’t see the light of day in the form of a single, which probably hinders its chances of being played live, but with its recent addition to the setlist in the form of ETID’s ‘Hot Damn!’ encore set during their run on the All-Star Tour in the US it seems to have gotten much more popular and hopefully will find its way into the regular live ETID show set in the future.
‘Hot Damn!’ is seen as one of the greatest albums in the metalcore scene and one of the albums to actually create this thing we now call metalcore. It’s full of full-on heavy tracks, showcasing their guitars in uber-thrash mode, their drums slam through at every opportunity and Keith Buckley’s lyrics and vocals shattering skulls, but on this album of heavy there is this gem that incorporates something totally different. It swaps the thrash for a softer sound, the drums drive through, but at a slower pace and Buckley’s vocals sooth rather than screech.
“In The Event That Everything Should Go Terribly Wrong” shows that Every Time I Die can pretty much do anything musically and aren’t afraid to venture into unknown territory if they think it could produce a great track, and in this case they did.
"In The Event..." is available at the link below, where you can buy the track from the album 'Hot Damn!' via iTunes, but its also available for pretty much any site the sells anything these days.
If anyone is interested in taking the reigns for next week or any week, hit me up on the Facebook page.
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