It’s August 2007 and San Diego’s finest Metal Outfit AS I LAY DYING returns to the fold with An Ocean Between Us that reaches just a bit outside of their comfort zone thanks to the direction of Adam Dutkiewicz yet they manage to stay in line to themselves and deliver their most brilliant piece of work yet.

At first listen I noticed more guitar activity with leads as well as group chant style vocals but there is no mistaking the angry snarl of frontman Tim Lambesis. The first single, Nothing Left starts with a guitar riff that is a blend of the intro to Blackened by METALLICA and the verse of War Ensemble from SLAYER that opens into a typical chug chug verse from AILD complete with double-kick energy from one of the most solid drummers today Jordan Mancino who truly rises to the occasion this time around with precision and creativity to his art. The title track follows and bears a resemblance in guitar lines, but is more straight-forward throughout the verses but a heightened sense of melody comes through the voice of new bassist Josh Gilbert as his clean passages seem more in place on this album. I feel that Adam D. has done to AILD as Daron Malakian does with SYSTEM OF A DOWN and that is trim out the fat of the songs and focus on the overall enjoyment that the listener will appreciate. Adam truly leaves his fingerprint with the band on the song I Never Wanted which could easily be a breakthrough single to get AILD to the next level with their fanbase.

I also notice a stronger sense in guitar work through Nick Hipa and Phillip Sgrosso that is evident in the tracks Forsaken and Within Destruction that both are extreme metal riffing in its purest form. Comfort Betrays is reminiscent of older AILD, but is given new life with a great guitar solo that takes them out of their old habits as does the brutality of Wrath Upon Ourselves.

While past offerings from AILD were great records, I couldn’t find myself listening to them over and over again as there were a few songs here and there that didn’t quite flow with the album or were too repetitive. Although this genre is dying (no pun) quicker than a deer on Ted Nugent’s ranch, AILD have made a bold album and statement with An Ocean Between Us that has solidified them as a band who will have a career and a band who others will continued to be measured against as more crops appear to try and take their crown. Yes, I said “try!”

RATING: 10 / 10
WEBSITE: www.asilaydying.com
LABEL: Metal Blade

Rate this review: (58 votes, average: 3.64 out of 5)
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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 10:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

absoluthidy wrote:

right on par with what the reviewer said, this is As I Lay Dyings finest work to date. When they first appeared with their major label debut Frail Words Collapse they were very very hardcore oriented and seemed like just another band in a very big sea of other generic hardcore acts. Then, when Shadows Are Security came out, As I Lay Dyings potential grew exponentially. There were just so many good ideas on that album, and yet for the most part their full potential was unrealized.

Thanks to Adam D. of Killswitch fame thats no longer the case. One of my favorite songs on the new cd has to be The Sound of Truth. I think the guitar work and the chorus are just so outside of anything they’ve ever done and its just completely awesome. Not only that but as stated in the review above, Jordan Mancino is at the top of his game. His drumming on this album is so accurate and the dynamics are incredible. He is one of the best Metal drummers pounding the skins today.

An Ocean Between Us is such a landmark for this genre, because I really think it does signify the dying age of hardcore or metal core or whatever you want to call it, and call it what you will, but to me its still metal. And, it is dying because you can absolutely hear on this album that the band who popularized this genre and took it to new heights has begun to stray away from that old formula and take themselves in a new direction that will not only help them to maintain their popularity for years to come, but also forge ahead a new path for metal. Lets face it people, how long has metal been around? Do you really think its gonna fade out? If anything its more popular now then its ever been and thanks to great bands like Mastodon, Lamb of God, Trivium, As I Lay Dying and Mudvayne, metal will be around for a long long time.

I know theres a lot of side thoughts and and losing track of the topic in this review so i’ll just quickly end this by summing up what i think of this album…

An Ocean Between Us, is probably the last testament to hardcore and its truly a masterpiece in that sense because of the variety in each song and the absolute sense of dynamics. Each track has its own unique feel within the ambience and tone of the album that it truly sets itself apart from, lets say, the Atreyu’s of music. If you see this album, buy it.

August 19th, 2007 at 12:21 am

karen carpentry wrote:

4/10. Stop being tasteless faggots. LOLZ.

September 4th, 2007 at 8:28 pm

BodomH8Breeder wrote:

pretty much sounds like more of the same. a 10/10 album must be different and unique, not just extra tracks that sound like they could have been on the last album

September 9th, 2007 at 6:16 pm

amalgamut00 wrote:

Out of all their albums this is the best one they’ve released. It’s one thing to hate metalcore, I’m sure a lot of us are sick of the same old metalcore bands, but As I Lay Dying is at least expanding on their music as they progress.

I recommend this album too but I don’t think I’d rate it a perfect 10/10, comparing this to the new Between the Buried and Me and Iced Earth albums is pushing it. True all three of these bands have a different style but I just don’t think As I Lay Dying have fully shown us what they have to offer.

October 4th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

blackened07 wrote:

This cd was alright I guess.

October 22nd, 2007 at 8:10 pm

Slimjim367 wrote:

it was good, but after shadows are security, it didnt mesure up, some songs were good, others just plain sucked, okay, but notihng that special. 5/10

November 1st, 2007 at 4:43 pm

newyork4311 wrote:

10/10 great cd with more thrash elements than hardcore. They r finally breaking away from those generic metalcore acts like Every Time I Die, The Devil Wears Prada etc. Great guitar work, amazing drums, and vocals than sound more brutal yet easier to understand than their prior releases. Great album and a must buy!

December 18th, 2007 at 10:26 pm

devlinv6 wrote:

i will listen to this album my entire life. it is amazing. surpasses all the trend / genre argument BS and is just GREAT MUSIC. It does help that Adam D does an amazing production job on par with the last ATR album, but still OMG amazing guys. oh and btw they f’in OWN LIVE people

January 9th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

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