As I Lay Dying took a few years off to allow lead singer Tim Lambesis to fiddle around with his humorous metal side project Austrian Death Machine, but now that they are back with a new CD, titled The Powerless Rise, you can feel confident that they have returned with a serious vengeance.
Opening cut "Beyond Our Suffering" kicks things off with a bang, as tight, intricate riffs and bombastic rhythms provide the framework for Lambesis' lethal growls and screams. Though As I Lay Dying is always considered a metalcore band, this track really shows their technical death metal side in a big way. Rippling riffs and jackhammer drum blasts permeate the fast paced juggernaut "Anodyne Sea", a tune that also features some fine clean vocals from Tim to go along with his evil screams, and the 'pit friendly' "Without Conclusion" features no shortage of pulverizing riffs, blazing solos, and gut wrenching vocals. The band also dive into some melodic thrash on the CD, as on "Parallels" and "Anger and Apathy", but for the most part stick to their own kick ass brand of brutal & melodic metalcore, which you can plainly hear on "Upside Down Kingdom" (which features some killer guitar work), "Vacancy", and "The Blinding of False Light".
As far as metalcore acts go, you usually can bank on As I Lay Dying to be one of the most consistent bands around, and they once again deliver the goods here on The Powerless Rise.
Track Listing
01. Beyond Our Suffering
02. Anodyne Sea
03. Without Conclusion
04. Parallels
05. The Plague
06. Anger and Apathy
07. Condemned
08. Upside Down Kingdom
09. Vacancy
10. The Only Constant Is Change
11. The Blinding of False Light
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
