MANY EYES
The Light Age
PERSEVERANCE
8/10
LIFE AFTER DYING, EVERY TIME: If there’s been an iron-clad public statement about why Every Time I Die broke up, we don’t know what it is due to our lack of concern for other people’s drama. However, if Keith Buckley’s years of admitted alcoholism is, in fact, in the rear view, it’s not a stretch to imagine the changes brought about by sobriety factored into a shift in the band’s inner workings and relationships. Sobriety had NOFX hanging on by a thread for a few years in the 00s, almost killed Metallica on numerous occasions, certainly made the Go-Go’s a lot less interesting, and…well, those are just a few examples, as backward as it may seem in the grand scheme of things. Either way, things might be super tense around the Buckley family holiday table these days.
Sparkling versus alcoholic beverages aside, while the younger, guitar playing Buckley has made his return with Better Lovers, the elder singing Buckley leads his post-ETID foray with Many Eyes, a band not entirely far removed from his past. Featuring Nick and Charlie Bellmore (Toxic Holocaust, Jasta, Toxic Holocaust, Kingdom of Sorrow) alongside Buckley, The Light Age vomits forth with the familiar pull-off groove-tinged hardcore of ETID, albeit with more of a lean toward metal’s horizontal riffing canon and an almost wholesale subtraction of the staccato slashing and parrying commonplace in metalcore. Nine Inch Nails works its way in as an influence in “Future Proof,” with Buckley’s smooth croon and double-tracked chorus vocals acting both as an anthem and modern rock radio dollar sign generator. The comparative easy listening moments, like momentum stalling album closer “The Rainbow” and the moroseness briefly reminiscent of Radiohead in “Third,” are tempered by chugging thrash and tritone movements in “Speechless,” “Amateurs,” “Enough,” and “Harbinger” that strip metallic hardcore to its bare, galloping, melodic bones, like a punk rock kick at the cans owned by early Metallica and Slayer.
All of the above also acts as host for someone who is obviously struggling with the past, with not only the dissolution of his previous band/life, but also the impact that had on his familial relationship. He’ll probably conceal the meaning of “Third,” “Mystic Cord,” and “Revelation” behind a wall of gonzo-lit cleverness, but when he’s wailing, “I gave you everything / You kept the misery / You threw my love away / I saw it on your face,” and, “I rebuilt this heart by hand / The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone / I am a flower in filth. I am a thorn in your bone,” and, “I just wish I could talk to you” punter interpretation is going to go with the obvious.
The Light Age is definitely a sign of Keith Buckley pushing forward, highlighting his dynamic vocal capacity, songwriting acumen, and fearlessness at channeling metal with the help of the Bellmores. His anger is brimming at the same level as his confusion, and while this record likely exists as trauma, triumph, and catharsis for its frontman, it also means the listening public wins again. ~ Kevin Stewart-Panko