Review Summary: As They Sleep proves with Dynasty to be a formidable group in the genre of today's death metal. It combines remarkable vocals, guitar-dueling riffs, machine-like drumming, and crisp production into a great albeit fairly inconsistent listening experience.
Honestly, the opener "Oracle of the Dead" of As They Sleep's album Dynasty is one of the great psych-out moments of metal this writer has ever experienced. The crushing blast-beats, low growls, and speedy chugging misleads the listener into thinking this is another lukewarm and mediocre deathcore experience. But after such an intro, the guitars morph into dueling riffs, playing off each other, and vocalist Aaron Bridgewater proves he has an impressive set of pipes from which to growl, bark, and screech. "Oracle of the Dead" is a foretaste for the rest of a great listening experience.
The creative riffs and fantastic vocals continue into the melodic "To the Republic." At this point, one begins to recognize another aspect of this band's arsenal: lyrics. From the barking of "Unite! Unite!" in this cut, to the lyrics about the frailty of the American nation. It is also this point that the band's Christianity comes to light (they are Solid State, after all), due to their lamenting that America is no longer a "nation under God." I find myself appreciating their lyrics, especially in light of other utter cheese of Christian lyricism (For Today, for instance), but take them for what they are. In any case, "To the Republic" is a great song, but also shows a downfall of As They Sleep that plagues a few further songs, which, to be cliche, is breakdowns. Now, I have no problem with breakdowns, but with As They Sleep, it seems that they could be doing so much more. The best these breakdowns gets is "The Third Reich," in which it has power, but it is still lacking.
The following two songs are the highlights of the album for me. "Bedlam in the Nile," although still haunted by a breakdown, makes up for this with its sheer technicality and fantastic dichotomous vocal duties. "The Darkest Ages" also owns this as well, and adds on some fantastic lyricism regarding the inevitability of the human condition: "To forget who we were, we try to change who we are, degrade the stature of life. Put a blade in the back of truth and you twist the knife." The riffs, vocal contrast, blast-beats, etc. are spot-on.
"The Ritual" is an instrumental break, and it serves its purpose, and the guitar work is pretty good. Unfortunately, the following track, "The Offering" is, in my opinion, the weakest track on the album, repeating the opening melodic riffs excessively to the point of despair. The lyrics aren't bad, and the vocals are great, with some great low growls, but in terms of guitar work, it fails to live up to the standard set by the first half of the album.
"Attila," thankfully recovers mostly, with some impressive drumming and catchy chugging by the guitarists. The atmospheric and emotional riffing and soloing midway through the track are also impressive and necessary. "Poseidon" continues this trend, slowing the tempo down a bit, and the chorus is shockingly catchy, lyrically: "Unleash the fury. I stand beneath this darkened sky. If you only knew me, on jealousy I thrive. Unleash the fury. This willing death of my empire. If you only knew me. This day Atlantis dies." The soloing at the end of the song is powerful and catchy.
"God of War" is a great track as well, heavier than the others, utilizing a speedy chugging and blast-beats much like the opening of "Oracle of the Dead." Although it could be seen as rather generic, it still remains a good song.
The closer, "The Unseen," is a good way to close the album, but nothing standout. The melody is great, and the vocal build-ups are good. Lyrically, it may be the most positive song, focusing on God in context of man's flaws, while the rest of the album focuses on the flaws of mankind.
All in all, I enjoyed As They Sleep's "Dynasty." Their Solid State debut shows a lot of potential that could be sharpened and built upon in their next release.
