Every Time I Die was a hardcore/metalcore band from Buffalo, New York. Highly regarded for their energetic live performances, unique lyrics, and jarring guitar riffs, they formed in 1998 with the lineup of Keith Buckley (vocals), his brother Jordan Buckley (guitar), Andy Williams (guitar), John McCarthy (bass) and Mike “Ratboy” Novak (drums). The band’s core lineup was mostly consistent throughout their career despite cycling through a number of different bassists and drummers.

Two years after forming, they released their first full-length album, Last Night in Town on Ferret Music. The band stayed with this label until 2008, when they signed with Epitaph Records, whom they remained with until their unexpected dissolution in early 2022. The band released nine full-length albums and two EPs during their 20+ years as a band. Their final album was the long-awaited Radical, produced by Will Putney.

On December 4th, 2021, before the final three shows of their US headlining tour, Keith announced on his social media platforms that he would be taking a hiatus from the band, citing mental health issues. He claimed that he overheard the band talking about replacing him, and that he felt ostracized from his bandmates because of his sobriety. The band planned to play their final three shows of the tour without Keith, instead leaving the vocal duties up to the audience. These three shows were soon canceled due to COVID-related issues. Despite this turbulence, the full band did go on to perform at their annual ‘Tid the Season festival at the Buffalo Riverworks.

Just over a month later on January 17th, 2022, after also canceling a UK headlining tour, Jordan, Andy, Steve and Goose posted a shared statement on each of their Instagram pages announcing the end of the band. The statement read as follows:

While we hoped to come to an agreed upon legal statement that outlined the truth, we were informed today of something planned to be released not mutually agreed upon that consists of inaccuracies and controls a narrative to benefit one.

There has been no direct communication with Keith, because it’s either impossible for direct communication with him solely or we’ve been cut off to any and all communication by him himself.

Every Time I Die was these 5 members, and we were never budging or accepting any changes. Simply, there is zero truth about the band continuing on with a new singer. Lastly, we wouldn’t be where we are today without every single person that’s backed the band in any & all ways. While we’re extremely disappointed in how this was played out online in front of you, your support and the memories we have because of you all will always be cherished.

The public drama persisted, as shortly after this announcement, Keith posted an image to his social media pages of a cease and desist letter sent to him by an attorney on behalf of the other four band members. Not long after, Keith issued a statement explaining his side of the story. Much of what he said was soon refuted in another statement from Steve, posted to his Twitter account.

Every Time I Die’s final lineup consisted of:

Keith Buckley (vocals)
Jordan Buckley (guitar)
Andy Williams (guitar)
Steve Micciche (bass)
Clayton “Goose” Holyoak (drums)

Jordan, Steve and Goose eventually went on to form a new supergroup, Better Lovers, with Will Putney on guitar and Greg Puciato (formerly of The Dillinger Escape Plan) on vocals. Keith later went on to form a new band Many Eyes alongside brothers Charlie and Nick Bellmore. After ETID’s break-up, it was known that Andy was jamming with the band’s former drummer Ratboy, but no new musical project emerged from this collaboration, and Andy stepped away from music to focus on his professional wrestling career.