27-09-2012, 12:48
online listen
if you can't say something nice.....
1.0 from me and a converted 2.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - A Greater Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHXmHssCHY8
released Sept 25th, 2012
![[Image: 220px-Aild_awakened-cover.jpg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Aild_awakened-cover.jpg/220px-Aild_awakened-cover.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
As I Lay Dying are a metal-hardcore crossover band from San Diego, California. The group formed as a trio in 2001
with vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, and guitarist Evan White, and shortly thereafter released
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. A split CD with the American Tragedy followed the next year. In 2003 the band signed
with Metal Blade and released Frail Words Collapse. After the album's release, White left the band and the remaining
core of the group, Lambesis and Mancino, drafted two guitarists to replace him, Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa, and also
landed a bass player in Clint Norris. The new lineup recorded Shadows Are Security, released in 2005. As I Lay Dying
next issued A Long March: The First Recordings in May 2006, which included their 2001 out of print debut, along with
two versions of their songs from the 2002 American Tragedy split. The band then spent that summer on the Sounds of
the Underground metal-hardcore tour alongside acts like In Flames, GWAR, Trivium, and Cannibal Corpse.
Soon after, Clint Norris left to pursue life as a family man and Josh Gilbert replaced him on bass. With the
addition of Gilbert's vocal harmonies, the band's sound became more melodic, and in August 2007, the group released
its fourth album, An Ocean Between Us. In 2009, the band released a three-DVD collection called This Is Who We Are.
The set included a documentary, a live gig, and assorted videos and tidbits. Arriving as it did after a two-year
hiatus, it was welcomed enthusiastically by the band's near fanatical fan base. In 2010, As I Lay Dying returned to
record store shelves proper when the band issued the 11-cut Powerless Rise on Metal Blade. The next year, to
commemorate their tenth anniversary as a band, As I Lay Dying released the compilation Decas, which featured the
band covering songs by influential acts like Slayer and Judas Priest, as well as some new material and remixes. In
2012, the band hit the studio with punk icon and producer Bill Stevenson to record its sixth album, Awakened, which
arrived on Metal Blade later that year.
Album Review - from allmusic
Honing their sound with razor-sharp precision, As I Lay Dying return with more driving, melodic thrash on their
sixth album, Awakened. While the band's level of technical acumen and intensity isn't much of a surprise at this
point, their decision to work with punk icon Bill Stevenson (of the Descendents and All) might seem a bit odd at
first glance. Though Stevenson isn't exactly known for heavy music, he's very well-versed in the language of fast,
and that common ground helps to make for a successful pairing of the two as the band deliver 11 relentless tracks
that bring plenty of intensity without ever giving up control. For a band like As I Lay Dying, keeping a firm grasp
on the reins is crucial; otherwise there's the risk of the songs careening toward disaster, as all of the songs'
carefully interlocking parts fail one by one in a kind of Rube Goldberg-ian catastrophe. Fortunately, Awakened lives
up to the reputation the AILD have built for themselves over the last decade or so of recording, showing their
ability to find just the right balance between cathartic aggression and soaring melody while maintaining a velocity
that seems more and more impressive as metalcore bands continue to depend on pop-oriented production and studio
trickery to piece their songs together, rather than relying on old-fashioned songwriting ability and musicianship.
This kind of skilled craftsmanship helps to make Awakened an album that will not only please AILD fans, but might
just help to bring more traditional metal fans into the metalcore fold.
Track Listing
1. Cauterize
2. A Greater Foundation
3. Resilience
4. Wasted Words
5. Whispering Silence
6. Overcome
7. No Lungs to Breathe
8. Defender
9. Washed Away
10. My Only Home
11. Tear Out My Eyes
if you can't say something nice.....
1.0 from me and a converted 2.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - A Greater Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHXmHssCHY8
released Sept 25th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
As I Lay Dying are a metal-hardcore crossover band from San Diego, California. The group formed as a trio in 2001
with vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, and guitarist Evan White, and shortly thereafter released
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. A split CD with the American Tragedy followed the next year. In 2003 the band signed
with Metal Blade and released Frail Words Collapse. After the album's release, White left the band and the remaining
core of the group, Lambesis and Mancino, drafted two guitarists to replace him, Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa, and also
landed a bass player in Clint Norris. The new lineup recorded Shadows Are Security, released in 2005. As I Lay Dying
next issued A Long March: The First Recordings in May 2006, which included their 2001 out of print debut, along with
two versions of their songs from the 2002 American Tragedy split. The band then spent that summer on the Sounds of
the Underground metal-hardcore tour alongside acts like In Flames, GWAR, Trivium, and Cannibal Corpse.
Soon after, Clint Norris left to pursue life as a family man and Josh Gilbert replaced him on bass. With the
addition of Gilbert's vocal harmonies, the band's sound became more melodic, and in August 2007, the group released
its fourth album, An Ocean Between Us. In 2009, the band released a three-DVD collection called This Is Who We Are.
The set included a documentary, a live gig, and assorted videos and tidbits. Arriving as it did after a two-year
hiatus, it was welcomed enthusiastically by the band's near fanatical fan base. In 2010, As I Lay Dying returned to
record store shelves proper when the band issued the 11-cut Powerless Rise on Metal Blade. The next year, to
commemorate their tenth anniversary as a band, As I Lay Dying released the compilation Decas, which featured the
band covering songs by influential acts like Slayer and Judas Priest, as well as some new material and remixes. In
2012, the band hit the studio with punk icon and producer Bill Stevenson to record its sixth album, Awakened, which
arrived on Metal Blade later that year.
Album Review - from allmusic
Honing their sound with razor-sharp precision, As I Lay Dying return with more driving, melodic thrash on their
sixth album, Awakened. While the band's level of technical acumen and intensity isn't much of a surprise at this
point, their decision to work with punk icon Bill Stevenson (of the Descendents and All) might seem a bit odd at
first glance. Though Stevenson isn't exactly known for heavy music, he's very well-versed in the language of fast,
and that common ground helps to make for a successful pairing of the two as the band deliver 11 relentless tracks
that bring plenty of intensity without ever giving up control. For a band like As I Lay Dying, keeping a firm grasp
on the reins is crucial; otherwise there's the risk of the songs careening toward disaster, as all of the songs'
carefully interlocking parts fail one by one in a kind of Rube Goldberg-ian catastrophe. Fortunately, Awakened lives
up to the reputation the AILD have built for themselves over the last decade or so of recording, showing their
ability to find just the right balance between cathartic aggression and soaring melody while maintaining a velocity
that seems more and more impressive as metalcore bands continue to depend on pop-oriented production and studio
trickery to piece their songs together, rather than relying on old-fashioned songwriting ability and musicianship.
This kind of skilled craftsmanship helps to make Awakened an album that will not only please AILD fans, but might
just help to bring more traditional metal fans into the metalcore fold.
Track Listing
1. Cauterize
2. A Greater Foundation
3. Resilience
4. Wasted Words
5. Whispering Silence
6. Overcome
7. No Lungs to Breathe
8. Defender
9. Washed Away
10. My Only Home
11. Tear Out My Eyes
