As I Lay Dying - The Powerless Rise - Review

In 2000, you may not have heard of Tim Lambesis, or his duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, As I Lay Dying. But once they found two more members, Pluto Records took them into their care, releasing a debut Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and a split EP with the now defunct metalcore band American Tragedy. Then in 2003, after increasing in popularity, they jumped over into the strong and capable arms of Metal Blade Records (where they still have a home today), and released their sophomore Frail Words Collapse. Here’s where you more than likely started hearing about the five piece metalcore band and the swell tunes they’d been playing all through the town.

But that’s all ancient history. The general consensus is that AILD’s very own sound was not found until their 2005 neckbreaker Shadows Are Security, which boasted better production and an overall more professional approach. But that still didn’t stop them from warping their music further; they were so close. Finally they decided on a more melodic An Ocean Between Us. Now a fifth studio album has come to be. From a band that has achieved one of the smoothest and most successful progression arcs of any metal outfit to date, The Powerless Rise can easily be introduced as As I lay Dying’s best album yet.

The opening track, “Beyond our Suffering”, is the shortest on the album, but it dominates your whole being with such ferocity. Very AILD toned guitars wind together in a series of opening thrash and blast beats. But the real mother is the devastatingly intense vocals from Tim Lambesis. He’s holding nothing back this time around, belting their music to a level never heard before. Nothing slows down on this track, opening the album on a stifling note, but “Anodyne Sea” follows with no less energy. The beat is a little slower, but very easy to tap your feet along to. We see a very welcome return of clean vocals from bassist Josh Gilbert which aided a melodic turning point for AILD in An Ocean Between Us. The entire face of the music takes a different stance for a tamer, cleaner chorus, and then comes a real treat. To everyone who says that As I Lay Dying doesn’t play breakdowns, get ready to eat your words as your face gets molested by this bassy, built-up breakdown!

You think this out-rage-ous behavior is going to end soon? Wrong. “Without Conclusion”, break their legs for them. This is where lead guitarist Nick Hipa confuses me significantly, because this track has some serious shredding taking place within it. So either he’s been taking some summer guitar lessons since we last heard him play, or he’s been holding out on us. Are you telling me Nick, that you could have been shredding this whole time and you haven’t been? Honestly, first the track opens very originally with a series of well timed pick slides, and now this? As I Lay Dying now has guitar solos, very un-shabby guitar solos. Yes, their music now contains every good thing in the universe.

A very catchy drum beat and soothing clean singing pump up “Parallels” with a gorgeous chorus, but the immense vocal variety taking place will never go unappreciated. Just when you think the track is over, it comes back in with a well played guitar solo that just kind of grooves into the song. And that’s about as mellowed out as it gets on The Powerless Rise. “The Plague” enters in a familiar AILD fashion. The high and low screams trade off and the guitars jump in and out with intricate patterns and clever riffs. Band evolution aside, Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa never lose their signature way of playing guitar.

It is rare that a certain track can be picked out for being less eventful than most of its siblings, but that is unfortunately the case for “Anger and Apathy”. It’s merely a black sheep among the rest of the album, but it still manages to rise up and play its part. The short chorus is particularly excellent; powerful clean vocals and an appreciably simplistic chain of drum beats serves as the backbone for the track. It definitely has more impact melodically than brutally like other songs among it. But just as “Anger and Apathy” slowed down the pace, “Condemned” rides right back up the speed limit. While its short length is unfortunate, you can easily enjoy the action-packing while its happening. The free range guitar solo will be heard, by you, multiple times. I promise.

A bit of possible Metallica influence opens up “Upside Down Kingdom”, but the grandmother-scaring death growls and harpy screams dissuade any of those impure thoughts for the remainder of the track. A couple of very upbeat, very catchy breakdown bridges make it well worth multiple replays as well. To end the album, we are presented with a more sit-back-and-listen approach to “The Blinding of False Light”. The first half of the track is kind of chill most of the way through, compared to previous tracks. It’s not quiet, but considerably slower paced and looser. This is easy to accept as the closing track until it amps up halfway through to a super one-eighty that shares an uncanny resemblance to Becoming the Archetype’s “Artificial Immortality”. It propels our hopes of the final track to lofty new heights. Suddenly though, and inexplicably, it slows down again before ending. Though the passion in the track is thick, it ends on an uncertain note. I could so easily hear another track afterward, but alas. The album has ended.

As I Lay Dying has always been in the epicenter of the general happenings of American metal. To rise up in intensity, and then mellow out in a melodic chorus is their specialty, but they also do it better than anyone else does. Because of the sheer creativity and immeasurable talent of the band members, they seem to be untouchable. Whichever way you look at it, it is extremely unlikely and therefore jaw-drooping that they manage to keep improving 10 years into their career. Spending nearly a year in the studio tends to have that effect, though. Unlike a million other bands that, as front man Tim Lambesis says, “need to rush out a crappy record so they can start touring again to pay their bills.” With the wise selection of Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutciewicz co-producing and the band’s first time ever building up from a previous album’s sound, The Powerless Rise is very thoroughly worth the wait. And no amount of talentless copycat bands can ruin that for As I Lay Dying, or for us.

Artist: As I Lay Dying
Album: The Powerless Rise
Release: May 11, 2010
Label: Metal Blade
Length: 11 Tracks: 44 Minutes, 9 Seconds
Rating: 5/5