Review: As I Lay Dying - Awakened

Band: As I Lay Dying
Album: Awakened
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Genre: Metalcore

I have listened to Awakened 4 or 5 times through and this is a difficult review to write. Not because the album is complex and difficult to explain, no its much worse than that. As I Lay Dying's album Awakened just...isn't that good. As a big fan of this band it is just hard to admit, but there it is. Awakened isn't by any means a bad album but the band made what I would say are a few mistakes in the process of its creation and they stick out like a sore thumb.

On a review I read of the album on another site someone mentioned how AILD has created the first "retro metalcore" album. I think that description is apt, and I also believe that is what takes this from what could be a great album, to just ok. The riffing is a lot more choppy reminiscent of your generic metalcore band. It contains a lot of the stop start guitar parts which sap the riffs of their strength and just makes thing a tad boring. Still the fellas can still shred and Wasted Words is a thrashy tune for the most part. Another track that stands out and being good is A Greater Foundation which has probably the most memorable chorus of the album.

Vocally Tim Lambesis even sounds like he kind of phoned it in this time around. His performance on Awakened almost reminds me of the vocalist for another christian metalcore band, Mychildren Mybride. In fact the album holds more than that in common with said band. And you know, Josh Gilbert's clean vocals never really bothered me too much. But on Awakened they annoy the living hell out of me. I'm not sure if he sings more on this album than the previous two or what. But it seems to rub me the wrong way, like how when he sings it just pops out above everything else.

One of the highlights of the album has to be listening to Jordan Mancino's drumming. It's always a treat to hear him behind the kit. The album seems to even be pretty much driven by the drumming, perhaps a little higher in the mix than the other instruments. Mr. Gilbert's Bass is of course back in the mix, its there but barely discernible. The production is well done at least. Its clear and clean without any noticeable sonic blemishes.

On Awakened AILD have seemed to of mixed their style on An Ocean Between Us and the Powerless Rise with their older more generic metalcore style. This hurts the album. As soon as I heard the breakdown on Cauterize I knew something strange was up. Like I said before, Awakened is not bad by any means but it is not up to par with the last two albums. There is too much whiny singing, and the riffing at times can be a pain. Musically this album may have more melodies, but it is somehow less memorable overall. If you are a diehard AILD fan you may be on the fence about this album like me, otherwise if you are new to the band just pick up The Powerless Rise or the seminal An Ocean Between Us. Hopefully Awakened is a grower.

Score: 7/10
Standout Tracks: A Greater Foundation

Favorite Music Videos

Here are 5 more of my favorite metal music videos:

Edge of Sanity - Black Tears



Entombed - Stranger Aeons



As I Lay Dying - Nothing Left



Arsis - We Are the Nightmare



Metallica - One

Review: As I Lay Dying - The Powerless Rise

Band: As I Lay Dying
Album: The Powerless Rise
Year: 2010
Genre: Melodic Death/Metalcore

After the exceptional An Ocean Between Us As I Lay Dying are back with The Powerless Rise. Starting from where AOBU left off the band continues in that same direction. Automatically you can tell the band has gotten a little heavier musically and vocally. Tim’s growls and screams are more guttural and there are far more Death growls incorporated. Or maybe they havent even gotten heavier musically, perhaps just more consistant in their heaviness.

AILD never were heavy on clean singing but they usually kept a number of songs on the album with singing during the chorus. This trend is continued here and Gilbert’s vocals remain as they did on AOBU, not whiny but not terribly gruff either. He finds a medium and sticks with it which does the album ok but I think it would offend far less of the “true” metal heads if he took a more aggressive stance vocally. Tim’s vocals are more extreme than the last album. His highs are better I would say and his lows used much more while going into death metal territory.

Jordan Mancino is excellent on drums. I especially like how he throws blast beats into tracks pretty liberally. They are scattered throughout the album on songs like Without Conclusion, The Plague, and Condemned. He has become one of my favorite drummers in modern metal.

The riffs are all around great. My favorites would have to be the riff that starts Condemned, Upside Down Kingdom (especially during the chorus) and The Only Constant Is Change which has the most epic chorus on the album. But The Only Constant Is Change is also full of good riffs in its entirety. In fact if I had to describe the riffs on this album in one word it would be emotion, they all contain lots of it.

Lets talk about the solos! Back in the days before An Ocean Between Us they were painfully absent until AILD got their new guitarists who seemed to bring more metal into the band. There are some nice smaller solos like in Beyond Our Suffering and Without Conclusion. Even though its not my favorite song, Parallels has the best solo on the album and in that way its sort of like The Sound of Truth from AOBU.

And hey the bass can actually be heard! He (Gilbert) even has some nice bass fills and lines. Just check out the start of Upside Down Kingdom or the start of Condemned where its very audible. It also sounds like they turned his bass up a little more in the mix which is nice considering bands in this genre usually never do anything with the bass.

When all is said and done this album sets a new bar by which the band and others in melodic metalcore will be compared and criticized. The production is just downright perfect, the instruments are played with serious talent, the vocals are heavy and it all is combined to create one great album.

Score: 9/10
Standout Track: The Only Constant Is Change (definitely give this a listen!)