What Can I Give To You, That You Don't Already Deserve ...

As I Lay Dying is another Christian melodic metalcore band. I find their lyrics far more thought provoking and spiritual than 7Angels7Plagues, but I would still have liked a little more boldness like early Nodes Of Ranvier and Bleach. All the same As I Lay Dying are not ashamed of their spirituality and it is felt in their music.

"Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes" is a strong album and is heavy and noisy. Running only about 30 minutes it is able to punch you in the gut, pick you up, dust you off, then body slam you. It is brutal and crunchy and though it is not as melodic as 7A7P I find it is more emotionally stirring. Starting off with the title track we are introduced to a groove laden metalcore onslaught that is unapologetic in its force. "A Breath In The Eyes Of Eternity" and "A Long March" also feature bone crushing breakdowns. As I Lay Dying use a lot of thrash influenced riffing tastefully intertwined with their hardcore brutalness especially on tracks "Blood Turned To Tears" and "Torn Within". This creates a nice original sound.

"Innocence Spilled" has a crunchy start and hammers the listener down before uplifting them with a powerfully melodic outro. The effect works beautifully as it blends nicely into the best track on the album "Behind Me Lies Another Fallen Soldier". This is like the power ballad of metalcore music. It is both heavy and brutal, yet passionate. It starts with beautiful Metallica like picking and an acoustic guitar solo (not present on the re-recorded version for Frail Words Collapse) with the singer speaking over the intro in clean (no distortion) vocals. Then a pick slide crushes us with the weight of the songs anguish. The song as I interpret it is about one who is overwhelmed by the extent of God's Love and knowing that even if he gives his whole self it is no where as near to what God deserves for all He has given us. This is all accompanied by heavy melodic metal music and the vocals, though sounding like they're sung through a mouthful of gravel, just scream of humility and humbleness. The last line of the song sums up, not just this tune, but the album as well. "You laid down your Life, when I refused to give mine". What a powerful statement.

As I Lay Dying have done well in breaking into the mainstream market, while I believe sticking to their beliefs. This is my favourite of their albums. It's raw and passionate.

Up next I'll let you know how the 7Angels7Plagues members are doing with their knew band Misery Signals.