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The Powerless Rise

As I Lay Dying

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Album Review

In the three-year interim between 2007's Ocean Between Us and The Powerless Rise, San Diego's As I Lay Dying toured widely enough to cement their relationship with then-new bassist Josh Gilbert, who also picks up some backing vocal chores. It's not that that they've changed their formula so much as honed it to something so sharp it bleeds excellence. While everything here charges maniacally and furiously from the opening track — and first single — "Beyond Our Suffering," right on through to the set-closer "The Blinding of False Light," there are some slower intros on tracks such as "Parallels" and "Upside Down Kingdom" that work to stellar dramatic effect when the tunes give way to furious thrashing. The twin-guitar attack of Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso is sharper and heavier than ever here — check the back and forth work on "The Only Constant Is Change" and "Anodyne Sea." At 44 minutes, The Powerless Rise feels more like 10. As a band, AILD has grown most is in their songwriting and production skills (the latter of which are now off the charts in terms of precision). The Powerless Rise, delivers on what their previous outings have handsomely promised.

Customer Reviews

AILD "Rise" Again

With their newest album, The Powerless Rise, As I Lay Dying have reached a special place.
Unlike some bands which refuse to change, and instead make what it seems the same album over and over, As I lay Dying have evolved steadily with each new release.
And also unlike some bands that change their sound, As I Lay Dying does so in a way that feels natural and doesn't alienate their fans.

The Powerless Rise feels even more of a step up for the band than their previous album, An Ocean Between Us.
They move even more away from the metalcore genre with The Powerless Rise, but make no mistake, this is still As I Lay Dying..Tim is still a beast, Jordan's drums are as fast and brutal as ever, and the other members of the band seem to improve on this album as well.
Nick's and Phil's guitar playing is even faster and more brutal than on An Ocean Between Us, with even crazier solos and cooler verse riffs, but it is Josh that sounds the most improved. He promised better singing on The Powerless Rise, and I feel that he delivered on his promise.
While the singing on the last album was good, it is much better this time around(listen to the track, Parallels, and you'll see what I mean.) Without further ado, let me rate the tracks:

Beyond Our Suffering 9/10 Very heavy, even for As I Lay Dying. The riffs in this track are so brutal and thrashy..I love it.
Anodyne Sea 10/10 My personal favorite on the album. Great riffs all around, an epic breakdown, and a beautiful ending make this song stand out.
Without Conclusion 8/10 I heard someone say this sounded like Austrian Death Machine meets AILD, and I have to say I agree with him. But, is that a bad thing? I think not.
Parallels 10/10 Great song with a deep meaning (as with most of the songs on the album), great chorus and sweet solo make this song awesome.
The Plague 9/10 Incredible riffage throughout this fast paced song, and Tim's vocals are crazy awesome!
Anger and Apathy 9/10 A kind of slower song with a cool rhythym and awesome chorus and singing by Josh.
Condemned 9.5/10 Probably the heaviest song on the album. The sudden stops and starts throughout only add to the heaviness, and throw in a sick solo by Nick, and it's awesome.
Upside Down Kingdom 10/10 An EPIC intro and verse riff with a sweet chorus, it is kinda this album's version of The Sound of Truth, with it's awesome verse and deep meaning behind it.
Vacancy 9/10 I really love the guitars on this song, the verse riff in particular sounds great. The chorus is great again, as well.
The Only Constant Is Change 9/10 Great heavy song with thrashy riffs the whole song, except for a slow part near the end.
The Blinding of False Light 8.5/10 A kind of sad sounding song, with really good lyrics and singing.

I would recommend buying "Anodyne Sea", "Parallels", and "Upside Down Kingdom", if you don't want to buy the album, although the entire album is definitely worth it.

I feel this is AILD's best album to date, and I would highly recommend it to anyone that likes any kind of metal, whatsoever.
Thank you As I Lay Dying for your inspiring and awesome music!

A [good] mix between Shadows are Security and An Ocean Between us.

This album, frankly, surprised me. The name, when released, didn't strike me as the sort of thing that would be fitting to an album from AILD, but now that I have the chance to listen to this as a whole, The Powerless Rise takes on an aura of metalcore ferocity that is quite honestly an entertaining listen from start to finish.

I have been disappointed recently by melodic metalcore releases recently, such as Killswitch Engage's self titled album, Atreyu's Congregation of the Damned and Bullet For My Valentine's Fever, so I was not expecting a whole ton from this release either.

I am thoroughly blown away from the quality and although nothing new (Which isn't surprising considering the bloat of the overdone metalcore scene) this is an album that will find heavy repetition in my iTunes. Had Lambesis and company come out with another 'An Ocean Between Us', I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed this, but Tim's screams have improved immensely, and Josh Gilbert sounds even better than he did on previous releases, if that's even possible. The brutality meets melody is done extremely well, capturing the speed and aggression of hardcore and the melody and depth of metal the way they have the whole way. There's nothing here that feels overdone or repetitive which is a relief.

I am not a fan of buying songs track by track, but standouts include 'Parallels', 'The Plague' and 'Anodyne Sea'. Please though, buy the whole album and listen to it the way it was meant to be listened to. I'm glad to see that AILD can keep up the momentum and release solid pieces of work while other bands are content to wallow in mediocrity.

Keep rocking, guys.

Favorite Artist

Favorite Album, didn't miss a beat after An Ocean Between Us

Biography

Formed: 2001 in San Diego, CA

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '00s, '10s

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...
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