on 2012-10-30 dscanland Said:

Seriously nice review austinv56! I really enjoyed it. You pumped enough energy into As I Lay Dying that I need to check it out. Keep it up and you may get an invite to join our review team!
Not Rated

Review:

on 2012-10-28 austinv56 Said:

As I Lay Dying has created their best album to date by combining their two sides perfectly: screaming and singing. With their new style sounding a lot more like metalcore, they move away from mostly guttural growls and screams to more some clean choruses that really stick with their listeners. While many metal albums have a few good songs and then a fair amount of filler, this album has absolutely no filler. Every song is very good to great, making the whole album worth its purchase.

The lead track and first single, Cauterize, is a great example of their new combination style by having Tim Lambesis scream the verses and have bassist Josh Gilbert sing the chorus. The only thing that doesnt make this song my number one favorite on the album is that the chorus is only one line repeated twice over. Had they even had it a two line chorus in which each line was different, then this would no doubt be my favorite. My favorite song on this album is the second track, A Greater Foundation. They utilize the double chorus perfectly with one of them by Tim and the other by Josh. And the best part is that the first chorus (which is by Tim) contains mainly distinguishable lyrics. The hook is great in this song and really sticks to the listeners. After this, the next two songs are very heavy (Resilience and Wasted Words). The latters intro is the heaviest on the album and likely has the most technical and crushing instrumentation that sounds a lot more like Lamb of God than As I Lay Dying (which is a compliment).

The rest of the songs, including the bonus track Unwound, are no joke and fill this album out to the fullest. Songs like No Lungs to Breathe, My Only Home, and Tear Out My Eyes have excellent choruses that will get stuck in listeners heads for a while. The cleanest track on the album vocal-wise is the bonus track, which contains probably the best chorus on the entire record. Im not too sure why this wasnt just made a part of the album because its on the same level as the rest of them.

The lyrics on this album are very good as well, when intelligible. Certain lines are very catchy, such as one that I always remember: whispering silence, a subtle contradiction. In a time where metal lyrics are often very clich?, its nice to know that they had some very deep and personal meanings in their songs.

Overall, this album does it all. I seriously cannot find any problem with any of the songs or anything I would change. Thats why this album deserves a 10/10 rating, and my pick for the metal album of the year. This band has really come full circle and created a masterpiece.
Rating: 10/10