As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

Published Saturday 22nd September 2007
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

STYLE: Hard Music
RATING 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 31678-7249
LABEL: Metal Blade 3984146322
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £12.29

Reviewed by Greg Sammons

Adam Dutkiewicz has to be one of the hardest working men in metal. Not only is he the guitarist for one of the forerunners of the scene, Killswitch Engage, but he's also produced some of the best metalcore albums of the past five years. In my opinion, this could well be the best of the bunch. With their Metal Blade debut, As I Lay Dying showed that they were amongst the best when it came to creating music that will appeal to heavy metal fans and hardcore kids alike. With the follow-up concept album, the band sealed their sound and sealed their fate as being capable of headlining over bands of the ilk of In Flames and Himsa. This time round they've created their most diverse and accomplished release to date. It's got the pace we've come to love, the harsh aggressive vocals, the crunchy heaviness you can't help but gorge in and of course big, BIG breakdowns. For a band that started out as hardcore, this album is suspiciously metal - check out one of the best tunes on the album "Within Destruction" if you don't believe me. Add to that the fact that they've also taken the time to create slow burning epics, nuanced with intricate and beautiful musical skill. Yes, they've done it before but this time round it's in greater magnitude and to a much higher level of musicianship. Oh, and (of course) Tim Lambesis just so happens to be one of the best lyricists of our generation. This album really does stand out as one of the best albums in 21st century Christendom, certainly one of the best to hit the likes of Ozzfest, Warped Tour or Download.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Konnori in Louisiana @ 22:18 on Nov 9 2009

Caleb, I couldn't agree more.

As I Lay Dying is my 2nd favorite band (TDWP being first) and if TDWP doesn't make a better album than AILD next time, AILD will be my favorite band.



Posted by Caleb in Arizona @ 17:18 on May 4 2009

I completely agree, this album is absolutely phenominal. Even if you do not like past As I Lay Dying albums you will thoroughly enjoy this one. This album has been out for 2 years and I still love it!



Posted by Ton in kampen @ 16:35 on Oct 31 2008

this world needs some lyrics like this, its a selfish minded world, and we are forgetting the Shaper of our life God,

awesome review



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