Ex Lives is the sixth studio album by American metalcore band Every Time I Die.
Background In early 2011, vocalist Keith Buckley went on tour with the Damned Things. Ex Lives was recorded at JOHC in Pasadena, California; producer Joe Barresi also served as an engineer, with assistance from Morgan Stratton and Sean Oakley. Barresi later mixed the recordings. Josh Newton left the band five months after the recording, and was replaced by former bassist Stephen Micciche for touring. According to Buckley, for him to write the lyrics to "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" he had to "pay attention to the defeatism that the music suggested."
Release On January 3, 2012, Ex Lives was announced for release in March, and the album's track listing and artwork was revealed. In addition, a music video was released for "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space", directed by Buckley. According to Blabbermouth.net, the video "features a barrage of startling visceral images which perfectly match the raging brutality of the track." Buckley said that to make the video he needed to "acknowledge the masochism I wrote of [in the lyrics] to myself. You don't get rewarded for your faith and you don't get celebrated for your heroism." On January 25, Epitaph Records began posting a series of videos to YouTube offering viewers a behind the scenes look into the making of Ex Lives.Every Time I Die Post Behind The Scenes Look At Making Of “Ex Lives” | Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More. Theprp.com (2012-01-25). Retrieved on 2012-08-15.
On February 22, a music video was released for the song "Revival Mode", which was directed by Robert Schober. Buckley said the video had a "very ambiguously creepy David Lynch vibe to it" and that it features a "story line that exists outside of us as members of a band. It's dark and weird and while not completely adhering thematically to the lyrics, it sets a larger, broader mood which marries the song perfectly." Schober said the video is a "surrealist crime drama set on a lost highway...the story loosely interprets key phrases from the song...the guys were awesome and put up with many hours of freezing temperatures in the middle of the desert."
Ex Lives was made available for streaming on February 28, before being released on March 6 through Epitaph Records. In October, the band went on a tour of Australia. In January 2013, the band toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out festival.
Reception
"Ex Lives" debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 20 selling around 14,300 copies.Every Time I Die Ex Lives Billboard sales. Lambgoat (2012-03-14). Retrieved on 2012-08-15. This is their highest charting position to date.
Track listing All songs written by Every Time I Die.
Bonus tracks
Personnel Personnel per booklet.
Every Time I Die Keith Buckley – vocals Jordan Buckley – guitar Andrew Williams – guitar Ryan "Leg$" Leger – drums Josh Newton – bass
Additional musician John Christ – high caffeine lead guitar on "Revival Mode"
Production Evil Joe Barresi – producer, engineer, mixing Morgan Stratton, Sean Oakley – assistant engineers Nick Pritchard – design Christopher Pike – photos
Chart performance Chart (2012)Peak position U.S. Billboard Vinyl Albums3
References
External links http://blowthescene.com/reviews/every-time-i-die-ex-lives-review-and-full-stream.html