Gutter Phenomenon is the third studio album by American metalcore band Every Time I Die. Background Following tours of Japan and Australia in February 2005, the band planned to finish up the writing stage for their next album. On March 16, the band announced they almost completed the writing process. In addition, the band said they were looking for a new bassist to fill in Steven Micciche's position, who had left earlier in the year. Later in the month, the band began recording Gutter Phenomenon with producer Machine. On April 1, Kevin Falk of Between the Buried and Me was announced as the band's new bassist. On May 23, it was announced that the band was wrapping up the recording process. Recording and composition Gutter Phenomenon was produced and mixed by Machine with engineering done by Jakob Nygard. Recording was done using Pro-Tools, which was handled by Nygard and Jerry Farley. Drums were tracked at IIWII Studios in Weehawken, New Jersey, and were engineered by Nygard and Machine with assistance from Sal Mormando. Guitars and vocals were tracked at the Machine Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey, and were engineered by Nygard and Machine. The album was mixed at the Machine Shop and mastered at Joe Gastwirt Mastering. The band were listening back to their older material and contemplating the achievements they had done up to that point, including touring with Ozzfest and Warped Tour. Vocalist Keith Buckley said "we did so much promotion for Hot Damn before and after it came out that we never stopped to listen to it and see if we had grown." He believed that the band members had the same train of thought where "you really can't move on until you hate everything you've done before." Buckley mentioned that a lot of groups find a niche "and put the same ingredients into every soup." He said the band was aware that they had grown up and became more accepting of the music they heard when they were younger, mentioning classic rock specifically. On Gutter Phenomenon, the group "embraced that. We tried to hide it before because we didn't think it had any room in the 'hardcore community.'" Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance contributes vocals to "Kill the Music", while Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw added his vocals to "Champing at the Bit". Release On May 23, 2005, Gutter Phenomenon was announced for release in three