Congratulations are officially in order. Because Every Time I Die, the shitty dudes from Buffalo, haven't just got a true contender for album of the year here, they've let loose the very best record of their career.

Ok so the sheer bristle and confidence of the band's fourth long-player may make it feel like a wall of quick riffs and cowbell on first listen but each successive dip into 'The Big Dirty' reveals something more, something brilliant. The opening blast of 'No Son Of Mine' slithers between fuzzy southern-fried hardcore and big-bottomed groove, first single 'We'erwolf' hammers at heavy metal noise until it becomes a hook-happy punk rock party and 'Leatherneck' is so sleazy it sounds like… well, it sounds like whatever private-parts pox the 'big dirty' is actually a nickname for.

There are better things than bitchin' tunes here though. Alexisonfire's Dallas Green pops up to add heart and soul to ETID's serrated edges and Keith Buckley's lyrics continue to walk the line between sublime ("Oh you know it gets hard, it just gets so hard going limp in your arms") and the hilarious ("I can smell a drop of beer in a ten gallon tank and I'm moving in for the kill"). However, all told in his rough, ready but understandable drawl, every line sounds fantastic.

Best of all this band have carved out a clear identity here. From the jackhammer rhythm of 'Rebel Without Applause' to the flawless cowboy-core of 'INRIhab', 'The Big Dirty' sounds intensely, unanimously and unmistakably Every Time I Die. And, in these terrible days of shifting scenes, sound-a-like metal, pre-packaged attitude and copycat rock, that is exceptional stuff.