Band:
Tim Lambesis (V)
Phil Sgrosso (G)
Nick Hipa (G)
Jordan Mancino (D)
Josh Gilbert (B)
Discography:
A Long March: The First Recordings (2006)
Shadows are Security (2005)
Frail Words Collapse (2003)
Split w/ American Tragedy (2002)
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001)
Recording info:
Produced by Adam D
Mix & Mastering Colin Richardson
Brian Thompson (Video)
Jacob Bannon (Art)
Links:
asilaydying.com
myspace
metal blade
This is strong, powerful aggressive death metal of the melodic style and the songs contain lots of atmosphere and kind of progressive tunes. It’s well mixed and the material feels kinda thrashy in the 80’s way and yet modern. Also, the material is so varied that this thrashy way of sound isn’t all that’s in this bowl of soup, one can hear a great variation on the guitar sound and the songs in common and it never tends to the boring side of it all.
The vocals are interesting and goes all over the register with scream, growls and clear vocals. It’s exitingly written and the vocal melodies feels almost like a shoe maker have made a perfect shoe, special made for only one pair of feet. They match the music great and beside that mr Lambesis has a really good voice that stands the variation well.
This kinda feels like a mix between a grasshopper and a rattle snake, you don’t really get what the fuck it’s about – but it works! Even though this album was written and recorded in the middle of a very hectic touring schedule it’s just the way it shuld be: hounest, straight forward and not making it harder than it is. The songs are made in varied character, most songs have an individual style and yet the quality stays on top all the way.
I don’t think it would harm this band to get a permanent player of the keys, since it sounds so very nice in the few seconds they use it. Yet, this is nothing As I Lay Dying need, it’s good the way it is already. The harmonic guitars feels quite different from what usualy can be heard in this genre, like some kind of mix between thrash, rock, pop and progressive tunes in a big spicy meal. It’s an exciting combination and along with the many changes in tempo between and in the songs it gets extra rich.
This album is as made for you, the fan of melodic death metal in the aggressive way. Along with Dark Tranquillity, for fans of this genre it’s the two given albums released in this year. It’s the first As I Lay Dying album that I truly and almost threatening recommends you to own! It’s living in a way that these dying guys never have managed, it stays good over time and is just as an album should be: open, straight, hounest and complete and even comes in a pretty cover. It’s time to give that dying person CPR so the poor guy survives, this is good shit!