When San Diego metalcore band As I Lay Dying released its 2007 album “An Ocean Between Us,” vocalist Tim Lambesis stated that the band had become “jaded” with how standardized the genre had become. The result was a far cry from where they came from.
Although most critics saluted the alteration, many purist fans blanched at the group’s shift in direction. This time around, the band doesn’t give anyone any room to complain.
The quintet takes the best aspects of “An Ocean Between Us” and incorporates them into the traditional metalcore approach in the new album “The Powerless Rise.” Riffs tends to be heavier than on the previous album and there are fewer solos dampening the blows from the driving rhythms.
The facet that keeps the band ahead of its contemporaries in metal is the vocal harmonies performed by Lambesis and bassist Josh Gilbert throughout. Lambesis handles the screams and growls typical of a metal act, and Gilbert complements him with his more melodic or “clean” approach.
Tracks like “Condemned” and “Anger and Apathy” best display the band’s harmonious tendencies, but on a few tracks like “The Plague,” the group ditches the softer approach and just lets Lambesis pound brutally against the background of hammering guitars.
For anyone who had questions after “An Ocean Between Us,” the band’s newest album lays the doubts to rest.
