Formed in 2001 out of San Diego, emerged as a little-known unerground brutal emocore band. Despite the lack of press the band gained with their debut
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, As I Lay Dying outsold any other artist on the label at time of release. On that record-setting list just behind their debut is their split EP As I Lay Dying/American Tragedy. Sometime throughout all the chaos of the following years the band switched to the infamous Metal Blade Records. Enter Frail Words Collapse. This can basically be considered the band's breakthrough. With songs such as
94 hours and
Forever constantly being requested and downloaded, As ILay Dying's one good run (not to say they won't have more) is far from over. Though I'm not usually into this genre at all, I saw these guys live at the Strhess tour and have liked and been listening to them off and on ever since.
94 Hours
By far the best song on the album. 94 Hours has everything - the heaviest screaming possible from a human voice, singing, heavy riffs with double bass, softer and emotional riffs, great leads...everything. This song shows just how virsatile the band is. So far it has been a huge hit as their first single, which is highly understandable. It's a great way to start an album such as this. The only re-occuring drawback I can see is that it's quite short.
Falling Upon Deaf Ears
Just as heavy as the preceeding song which is mainly what this one focuses on. The riffs are heavy but flow pretty nicely. Me thoroghly enjoys the drumming on this. The solo near the end is pretty respectable and sound great compared to the rest of the song. The main structure is pretty repetitive, but after a while I don't really seem to notice anymore. Meow, another really good one.
Forever
Woof, their second single. Not nearly as good as 94 Hours unfortunately, but is still doing really well in the eyes of the media. This has much singing in the vocals which I don't think is this band's strong point. When it slows down it sounds pretty good altogether followed by the mildly-insane lead guitar which these guys seem to have mastered emotionally (well, they do have some emo influences). Decent, but not the best.
Collision
Unless I'm mistaken, this is their third single. This is not a bad tune. It's right along the lines of 94 Hours in terms of sound, but focuses almost entirely on heavy riffs. Strangely, this is not one of the heavier songs musically. I much prefer this to Forever because it's all screaming - something that I sort of depend on this band for. Once again, it gets kind of reptitive, but that's probably why the songs here are so short.
Distance is Darkness
Okay, the album is really intriguing me at this point. The song is basically chaos. It focuses solely on brutality and not a whole lot more. Strange guitar noises and double bass make up the main structure. So obviously, it's one of the heavier sounding songs. It's got some of the lighter singing, but this time around they make it work a little better.
Behind Me Lies Another Fallen Soldier
It is here that I begin to woner what the band was thinking. This song is completely horrbled. Their emo influence becomes terribly obvious here, which really disappoints me. It definitely picks up with the heaviness mid-track and at the end, but for some reason retains the lighter atmosphere evident in the intro. I always make note to avoid this song at all costs.
Undefined
Another track similar to 94 Hours. This time in just about every way. The structure is similar as well as the drumming and vocals. Yet still quite unique. The guitar sounds get pretty dark about a minute into the song and the track becomes more instrumental than anything for a while. MUCH better after the last song, and also a highlight.
A Thousand Steps
Not much to this tune. It's pretty much hardcore, which odd random guitar noises and as heavy as the guys could get the whole way through. They must've been running out of ideas, because this one is a mere minute forty. But for that short time, I'm strangley pleased.
The Beginning
At this point the album is getting a little too repetitve at this point. They must've known 94 Hours was going to be big and modeled half of the CD after it. Once again it follows similar structure - main riff consists of lead guitar and loud drumming, then transitions to a slower, heavier, choppy part with no vocals. Repeat as necessry. Still, not a bad song, because the guitar parts were written with a little more creativity.
Song 10
Alright, I think I had the entire guitar intro memorized after the first minute and a half that it was repeated. It sounds pretty good, but horribly repeated. It took a whole minute and a half for the vocals and heaviness to come in - something I'm not used to at all with this band. The main part of the song is really good, and the rating would've been higher had it not been for the 90 seconds of boredom in the beginning.
Creative title, though huh? I bet Blur will be sending these guys a letter bomb at any moment.
The Pain of Seperation
Choppy, choppy, choppy. Don't immediately take that as a bad thing or a turn off at the moment. They took unique aspects from every song to create one whole new one here. It's nice and heavy with a not quite as repetitive rhythm. Guitars are nice and creative, too. Not to forget the drumrollage that sets the mood two minutes in.
Elegy
4:47? Why so long? Elegy features a completely new rhythm and combination of instruments. Not the most innovative but nicely instrumentalized and has some wicked-awesome effects at 2:30 into the song. Actually, now that I think about it, the rating probably should've been higher. Anyhoo, this is a nice blend of emotion and rage, and should never be underestimated.
Alright, I don't think I did the band the best of justice with this review. But no one had done it and it's been on my mind for a while. It's pretty evident that I'm not completely in love with the genre, but it's a good one to get if any from the band. Not the most innovative or groundbraking CD ever, but definitely worth a listen now and then, especially if you're already a fan.
Recommended tracks:
94 Hours
Falling Upon Deaf Ears
Collision
Distance is Darkness
Final Rating - 1.5/5
There you are. After all this time I've finally changed the end rating to match the stars. :)
