Music=Life: As I Lay Dying - The Powerless Rise Review

I got into As I Lay Dying on their Shadows Are Security release in 2005. I really enjoyed the hooks, and Tim Lambisis's vocals. I liked their ability to interweave scream vocals, and melodic singing. They have consistently gotten better over the years. I really dove deeper into this band when they released An Ocean Between Us in 2007. I absolutely loved that record, and couldn't wait for more. They have an uncanny ability to write very swift, and articulate guitar pieces, and accent them very well with the drums. Jordan Mancino is showing his increasing ability to really write great drum parts, and The Powerless Rise is his next step to becoming one of the greats of the new metal scene. While I'm not 100% sure what metal core is they are the leaders of it for sure. They definitely have a melodic since of progressions, while bring a very death metal intensity to it as well. When I first got The Powerless Rise I was really hoping for something good being that I enjoyed An Ocean Between Us so much. The first track, Beyond Our Suffering comes in fast and stays in your face the whole time. It really gets you ready for the next track. Anodyne Sea is such a brutal speed fest, but also having those melodic choruses sprinkled in there. The drum break towards the end is epic. It speeds up so articulately that it leaves you wondering. What the hell was that, and how did he do that? So now after those two tracks I'm smiling cause I know the rest will be excellent. Parallels is another great one that I really enjoy listening to. This band is showing great promise for the future of metal. They really know how to intertwine the many genres of metal. When I first heard them I was like this is so brutal, and awsome. Than I found out they were a christian metal band, and I was like no f-ing way man. But sure enough these guys while being so in your face, and energetic are good wholesome christian guys that really just love to play metal. Their lyrics definitely reflect their God of choice, and I'm ok with that as long as they keep spitting out good quality metal man. Be all the christian you can be. Haha. So on a whole I recommend checking out As I Lay Dying. They show great promise, and the material they already have out is really great as well. The Powerless Rise is an exceptional metal-core album, but while really bringing a cool spin on death metal. I gave The Powerless Rise a 10, and feel its very well deserved. Great job guys. So until next time. Stay hard, stay heavy.

Here are some audio stacks from the record just to give you a taste. Enjoy

Anodyne Sea