It is a good day to be a fan of sadly defunct metalcore icons Every Time I Die. Both bands featuring members of the Buffalo titans, Better Lovers and Many Eyes have released new songs.
Better Lovers end 2023 with the unexpected release of Two Alive Amongst The Dead, a standalone single that caps off a year that saw the Better Lovers seemingly burst out of nowhere only to become one of heavy music’s most talked about, and promising, new bands.
“’ Two Alive…’ was birthed on tour this Summer,” Will Putney notes of the nearly-three-minute rager that Jose Mangin debuted on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal. “We were having fun with the high energy, aggressive material live, and that cathartic spirit carried into this song. This is a band that never stops having ideas and likes the challenge of showing new music to fans live, so it was performed and fine-tuned on our Fall dates, and then immediately tracked in the studio between touring to make sure that fire stayed intact. There is no better feeling than capturing lightning in a bottle like this.”
Greg Puciato adds: “This song is about saying fuck you to the societal and institutional pressure to fall for “me versus you”/”us versus them” divisional tactics and realizing that we’re stronger when we remember the ways we’re the same, trying to find commonalities instead of differences. Understanding and finding compassion for one another instead of allowing ourselves to be separated and controlled. Brothers and sisters. Pieces of the same consciousness.”
Better Lovers return to the studio in January, working on their debut full-length via SharpTone Records, but not before closing out the year with a pair of sold-out “BLissmass” shows: Dec. 8 at Town Ballroom and Dec. 9 at Buffalo Iron Works, both in Buffalo. The band has also confirmed multiple festival performances for the new year, including Sick New World 2024, Jera on Air, Tons of Rock and 2000trees.
Featuring Greg Puciato (ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan), Jordan Buckley, Clayton 'Goose' Holyoak, Stephen Micciche (all ex-Every Time I Die and Will Putney (Fit For An Autopsy), Better Lovers exploded onto the scene with the single 30 Under 13 in April. That tracks blend of souped-up early '00s metalcore is pushed to the limit throughout the 15-minute, 4-track God Made Me An Animal.
Fronted by former Every Time I Die frontman Keith Buckley, Many Eyes have followed up their explosive debut single Revelation by sharing the equally monstrous new cut Mystic Cord. Mystic Cord picks up where Revelation left off, blending the metalcore soundscape of Buckley's former band with the melodic vocal qualities of his work with The Damned Things. Making good on a premise put forward by Buckely that Many Eyes would embrace their '90s alt-rock leanings, Mystic Cord packages heavy riffing with some gnarly hooks that showcase the new possibilities for Buckley as he adjusts to working with his new bandmates brothers Charlie (guitar/vocals) and Nick Bellmore (drums/bass/vocals).
Revelation was released via Jamey Jasta's Perseverance Media Group in October. Revelation sees Buckley back doing what he does best, taking superbly crafted lyrics and spitting them out with venomous intent over the top of a raging metalcore backdrop. That metalcore backdrop is at once both similar and dissimilar to the chaotic riffing of Every Time I Die, with the verses sounding eerily like the Buffalo icons but the spacious chorus providing a melodious point of difference.
Revelation arrived with confirmation that a debut Many Eyes full-length is on the way, with the band revealing that both Revelation and the upcoming album were produced/mixed by Nick Bellmore and mastered by Randy Merrill (Cage The Elephant, Imagine Dragons, Foo Fighters). The project is executive produced by Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Jasta).
Many Eyes will make their live debut opening for New Jersey post-hardcore icons Thursday on their upcoming War All The Time tour.
Prior to the announcement of Many Eyes, Buckley had been reasonably quiet since to chaos of Every Time I Die's unexpected dissolution.
His last known public performance took place as part of a soul-baring live podcast in the UK at which he performed an acoustic version of Every Time I Die's Thing With Feathers.
One of the most heralded hardcore punk bands of their era, Every Time I Die's breakup left behind a cult-like fanbase of 'ETIDiots', nine studio albums and a reputation as one of the most unfuckwithable live bands to ever grace the stage.
Their seemingly final studio recording is the critically acclaimed Radical.
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