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Rating: Hello to all the users, I'm a new member, and I'll start right away by reviewing a somewhat old album (2003) that has established this group as pioneers of the evolution of that genre everyone talks about, and many don't know a damn thing about, as I can read in too many, too many reviews... Nu-Metal... which these Californians have taken, modified, selected the best parts... mixed with death guitar riffs, often tuned in drop-C.
I'm talking about Metalcore... and they are "As I Lay Dying"... coming from San Diego in California... they have produced an impressive second album, entirely produced by Tim Lambesis, singer and founder of the group, also a great character with great stage charisma that few people in 2007 still have, but let's get into the specifics of this "Frail Words Collapse."
The album opens with the first single and video released... "94hours"... a piece of unusual aggression, and you immediately notice the C tuning of the guitarists and the modern and angry atmosphere... which follows on to rhythmic sections of bass drum that seem pasted on with a metronome, without a single mistake and without time to catch a breath... which the more fragile ears might want to find.. but once it's over, we come to "Falling Upon Deaf Ears"... and here the mood becomes even heavier.. Blast beat parts on the drums and especially the use of the cadenced parts "now called internationally "MOSH"... make this track one of those songs where one wants to smash their face into the wall from all the urge to headbang... but let's move on to track 3, the leading single of the album... "Forever" which seems to resurrect the melodies of Sum 41 (still waiting... the riff is similar... so also similar to that of Nek... -.-')... piece I think among the most popular with fans, but for me a bit annoying to put it bluntly.. because it seems made just to say "damn we need to do some calmer stuff otherwise people will kill themselves and not make it to the end of the album"... which then doesn't have a damn thing calm in it, but anyway, personally this is the opinion.. let's move on to "Collision".. this too opens with a nice guitar riff and a bone-breaking mosh right when Tim starts singing.... here we are at the 5th song "Distance is Darkness"... which is a bit of a gem of the album... semi-lethal rhythmic parts with odd times and syncopation, with many guitar harmonizations... to understand a bit like Dillinger Escape Plan... half crazy, manic... but with the only melodic vocal at the end of the track that you will find in this concrete block these AILD throw in your face... the tracks follow a bit in the style of the first described ones, maintaining that explosive charge that distinguishes them... and it ends with "Elegy" personally one of the most beautiful tracks of the album and especially... with the angriest MOSH part.
Speaking of sounds objectively... the bass drum may not be to everyone's liking.. evident triggers were used not only for it, but also for the snare and toms.. so the sounds you'll find are not very warm and quite fake... (although they make up for it with the next album which I'll review shortly... ;) ..but for a genre with so many frequencies, if the drums don't have dry sounds, it's useless to do it because you wouldn't understand a damn thing in a few words.. The guitars are like tractors and take good care of the rhythmic parts of both sections.. the bass.... well... in this album I don't know if you'll hear it... TIM said they didn't even record the bass.. even if in the post-album release videos there is a bassist.. so if he says so, let's listen to him and take his word.... the voice of Tim indeed.. hehe.. it looks like they shot some relatives because it has a charge that is something unusual for these bands...
In conclusion, a beautiful Album released on a Major... namely Metalblade, well-structured in every part, well-thought-out and even better played.. I'm giving it a solid 4.. until next time,
-Hate-
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 94 Hours (03:10)
94 hours of regret for me to realize what I held
unfading beauty, not just a face
I held its innocence within my heart
Go!
Now I won't let go
I won't let go
I won't let go
now I
I won't let go
now I
I won't let go
The torment of your eyes has awakened my soul.
The torment of your eyes has awakened my soul.
The pain of a moment's time will forever beg your forgiveness
Forgiveness
94 hours for me to realize
I held unfailing beauty
I held your innocence
03 Forever (04:42)
forever your eyes will hold the memory
i saw your heart as it overtook me
we tried so hard to understand and reason
but in that one moment i gave my heart away
i gave my heart away
in that moment i gave my heart away
in that moment i gave my heart away
with that perfect breath where my mind lay beside me
and all i knew is what had overtaken me
with no reason i am comforted by inability to understand
forever your eyes will hold the memory
i saw your heart as it overtook me
we tried so hard to understand and reason
but in that one moment i gave my heart away
i gave my heart away
in that moment i gave my heart away
in that moment i gave my heart away
FOREVER your eyes will hold the memory
forever your eyes will hold the memory
forever your eyes will hold the memory
when i wake from this dream
will your smile still open my heart
and leave me transparent?
when i wake from this dream
will your smile still open my heart
and leave me transparent?
04 Collision (03:11)
Can you understand my meaning
Hidden in the roses, around my eyes
I want you to know how much it means to have you
In my life
Your love brings me close again
In this instance this single moment when our worlds collide
The wire of eternity twists around us
I can feel this river rising, moving up my back
Some things never change, some things never go away
I could never forget you, and I will never be the same
05 Distance Is Darkness (02:38)
The contingencies of a day unravel my senses
And now your distance is darkness
My hope has been beset by your absence
I decay from inside
Underneath it all there is still life
Despite it all there is still love
07 Undefined (02:16)
What is this world, what is it we've created
in the burdens of this life, I cannot rest
this world means nothing
everything we hold will pass away
with a void of completion comfort will ever fade
i long for this wind to cease
everything we hold will pass away (2x)
i long for this wind to cease
we once held undying devotion;
dead to our thoughts, undefined like our love
everything we hold will pass away (2x)
09 The Beginning (03:29)
I see who you are and who else can compare
I meant what I said, I promised to stand by your side
Until the end, that's where we begin
From here to eternity, we begin understanding
It is our hearts that define what has meaning in life
Some will ask how can this be
But it was you who made me feel
11 The Pain of Separation (02:57)
How can I bear this any longer,
arms stretched out only to hold separation
Take me away, I'm dying inside
Emptied before you, take me into your arms
I will fight until the day when I will see
Sight given to these blind eyes
When will I be taken from this life, take what is yours
You deserve more than my life
12 Elegy (04:47)
(to Stephanie for undying friendship)
did you ever see me
or could you even see at all
i looked at your cold white face
so still, so empty
yet i knew you were at rest
much more comforted than I
what else could i find to replace who you were
it was the carefree unrestricted love that you never meant to give
you never had the choice, it was your innocence
it was part of who you were
it was the comfort of a friend
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