As I Lay Dying - Awakened (2012)

After being impressed (in a good way) by their previous release “The Powerless Rise”, As I Lay Dying returns with another cookie-cutter Metalcore release that might please the crowds of Mallcore kiddies, but not the Metal veterans. Having developed excellent songs for their previous album, it is kind of a bummer when a band waters down their music for the sake of record sales and pleasing crowds. As I Lay Dying has some musical chops, but in this release they just opt for the easy way out and deliver eleven tracks full of fluff that surely have a bunch of high-school kids cheering for them.

While we have outgrown our hatred for Metalcore, we still hammer releases devoid of creativity and this is one of them. Since the opener “Cauterize” the band opts for a weird mixture of Scar Symmetry-meets-Soilwork approach that really sounds like the band is trying to be somebody else. The clean vocals are pretty ok, but the way they are used is already Scar Symmetry’s forte, and when you add breakdowns to the mix… it just makes us want to vomit.

The lead guitar work in this album is top notch, something that would have worked with a stronger foundation and a lot less breakdowns. With some hints of Swedish Melodic Death Metal mixed in there, the band shows some brief moments of clarity but they immediately get drowned by the dull Metalcore chugging. A clear example of this is the Dark Tranquility-esque “Whispering Silence”, this track opens like a million bucks and it suddenly drowns with shitty clean Core vocals and hollow chorus sections. The band goes back to the DT-like opening a few times during the song, saving some of the track but ultimately failing at having a cohesive idea behind the song.

After a slew of shitty tracks, “Defender” delivers a solid mixture of Metalcore stuff (yuck) with some pretty solid Scar Symmetry/Soilwork riffing that would be magical in a better structured song. The harsh vocals are pretty ok, but sometimes are very overdone especially when they just sound like regular screaming. The clean chorus sections ALL sound the same during the release, maybe they just wrote them for one song and decided to add them to all the tracks during the recording to meet the industry Metalcore standards or something.

Closing with “Tear Out My Eyes”, we have a very typical track that while catchy and effective, can’t really save a very lame album. We feel bad for the excellent guitarists the band has, and the very well-crafted drumming, but their overall approach is very formulaic and repetitive. If you want to listen to a band emulate Scar Symmetry, Soilwork, and some other Melodic Metal bands, be sure to get this album. If you are looking for an evolved band that has progressed in terms of sound, then you should probably be purchasing a different album, maybe something by Job for a Cowboy or even Whitechapel.

Release: September 25th, 2012

Genre: Metalcore

Country: USA