Vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2001, but started as a full band in 2001. The bands debut album "Beneath the Encasing of Ashes," released through Pluto Records, showed a powerful sound from the band, but I don't think the band had fully found its sound on later albums. I thought it was a good album, but didn't even compare to some of their later albums.
After the band went on a tour, they realized they needed another guitarist and a bassist to complete the band. After the contract to Pluto Records expired, the band was signed to Metal Blade Records. In the summer of 2003, the sophomore album "Frail Words Collapse" was released. The album wasn't a really big change to the sound and they didn't really "break the barrier," but it was described by Sherwin Frias as "executed so well and with such precision that no song misses its target." But the band still hadn't really found its distinct sound.
The band's third album was released the summer two years later entitled "Shadows Are Security" and debut at number 1 on the Independent Albums chart. The band started to get more and more popular as the album was described as "one of the strongest releases of 2005." (Wikipedia) In my opinion, this was the album where the band found its personal sound. I think a part of that was because of new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa, contributing more powerful yet melodic guitar riffs in the music.
The fourth album "An Ocean Between Us" was released in August of 2007 and debut at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. This became the highest charting release for the band. (Wikipedia) The album got very good reviews and it seemed like As I Lay Dying were one if the bands that actually wrote music that they liked themselves, instead music that they thought the fans wanted.
The next album "The Powerless Rise" was released in May of 2010 and received positive feedback with one critic saying fans will be more than satisfied with "The Powerless Rise" as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album." The band went out on multiple headlining tours to support the album. In late 2011, the band released a compilation album entitled "Decas" to celebrate its ten year anniversary. It included three new songs, a few cover sings of bands such as Judas Priest and Slayer, and a few mixed songs from earlier albums.
The bands sixth full-length album "Awakened" was released in September of 2012. It was given generally good review, but it wasn't "ground breaking for heavy metal music." (Wikipedia) Personally, I thought "Awakened" was their best overall album. It had many melodic and harmonic guitar riffs and had very fast speed and lots of great guitar solos. In May of 2013, Tim Lambesis was arrested for hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. In early 2014, Lambesis changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" and was sentenced nine years to prison. (Wikipedia) No one was really sure what would happen to the band because of what happened to the front man, but it was recently announced that As I Lay Dying is continuing on without Lambesis with a new unnamed vocalist. I'm glad to see that the band is not breaking up because it would be a lot of wasted musical talent and potential, but I'm sad to see that it won't be with an awesome front man such as Tim Lambesis.
Tell me what you think of As I Lay Dying in the comments below. I'd love to hear!
Sedupereviewer. "SudupeReviewer: Top 10 The Best Metalcore Bands Ever."SudupeReviewer: Top 10 The Best Metalcore Bands Ever. Blogger, 2 Feb. 2014. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Hellcat, Sweneck. "As I Lay Dying - Awakened (Full Album)." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
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