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Rating:
To introduce this album, I am reminded of the words of my philosophy of law professor once I finished the exam: "I'll give you 28 even though you have all the means to reach 30."
The rationale behind that statement can be transferred and developed into the musical immanence plane unique to As I Lay Dying's "Shadows Are Security" released by Metal Blade, a very good album, which could have been a masterpiece in its field, with the band having solid foundations and means at their disposal.
Even though it falls under the metalcore genre that has said everything and its opposite in recent years, we are actually faced with an atypical product that does not abuse the classic formula of screamed verse - clean chorus - screamed verse - clean chorus - bridge - finale that has brought success to bands like Atreyu and Killswitch Engage. The same song structures are almost never completely linear, alternating within the same song, between very rapid drum passages and violent breakdowns, a perfect backdrop for Tim Lambesis' feral growl/scream, which consistently dominates almost the entire duration, with clean interludes being sparingly used like a precious commodity in a few sporadic episodes, among which "Confined" and "The Darkest Nights" stand out, two little masterpieces, that for as much as they are the two most conventional and "melodic" tracks, they penetrate inside and never leave, positioning themselves among the most beautiful songs that this genre has ever produced and that my ears have ever heard.
However, it's important to reiterate that the main references here are in the Swedish melodic death of the '90s of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, as evident from the typically Swedish riffs from the dual axes of Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa that dot the album. An example of this are the excellent "Meaning Tragedy," "Losing Sight," "Reflection," and "Truth Of My Perception," where there is still no trace of the criticized clean vocals of the new bassist, who will make his debut on the subsequent An Ocean Between Us.
The only moment of (false) calm on the entire platter is the beginning of "Repeating Yesterday," which, however, takes little time to explode furiously with an excellent Lambesis that plunges us into a heavy and leaden atmosphere, making us understand that we are not dealing with one of the many carbon copies of Killswitch Engage. The Californians will make many happy with this work, we are certain, striking a chord especially with a more mature audience more inclined towards sonic impact rather than melodic directions, which will recognize the quality of the offering that steers clear of certain stereotypes and explicitly commercial temptations or operations like Bullet For My Valentine.
Returning to the discussion at the opening of the review, perhaps a greater variety (it's a pity the solos are almost off-limits) would have pushed the thermometer even further, for a judgment that remains very flattering for a band of which this third album represents a sort of watershed between the old and the new, more canonical and ordinary, but nonetheless worthy As I Lay Dying.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Meaning in Tragedy (03:12)
I have traveled so far to find so little
meaning in tragedy or tragedy
in the search for the meaning
dark clouds have lead me here
confined freedom
guides us to security
what if everything
I have been taught is a lie and all of my teachers
have been wrong this whole time
compelling us to fight
the battles they would not
they have already won
and we have already lost
if we do not learn from their mistakes
we have already lost
if we don't learn to change
02 Confined (03:11)
That night I never came home.
Wandering souls captured my thoughts..
Emptiness filled my mind.
Urgency spoke her lies.
In the confines of these grey walls.
I watched them move together.
Taking me places I cannot remember (remember).
We have been poured out...
Into a loveless bride..
How quickly I forget...
That this is meaningless.
How quickly I forget...
That this is meaningless.
In a world passing through my fingers.
I still chase the wind.
How quickly I forget...
That this is meaningless
How quickly I forget...
That this is meaningless
what have I learned from yesterday?
what have I learned from yesterday?
06 Reflection (03:11)
i laid the night before me
unraveled that tangles of my heart
all i felt was stale hollow air
these streams of uncertainty
they are all collapsing upon my mind
torrents fill my veins until i burst
with mistaken guilt and shame
my battered bones
try to keep fighting
against this endless ocean of self defeat
as time goes on
some months are yet to pass
puddles of ink
surround this tired chair
all of my sorrow has been spilled
into my reflection
08 Through Struggle (03:58)
only through struggle have i found rest
with a piece of me taken away
i begin to understand
hollow out this machine like chest
with its gears that turn to make me feel
and assembled thoughts that fade away
remove from me
this deception that i called love
12 Illusions (05:48)
how could i ever go back?
back to the life where i lived amongst the dead
those who have forgotten how to feel
and become slaves to memory and wishful thinking
but your love has set me free
as you awaken every star that has been sleeping in the constellation of my soul
how could i go back to live amongst the dead
those who imprisoned beauty
i never want to leave your arms
so i wait in hope for your embrace
illusions of what i thought was love
now i have clear sight to see that i have left nothing behind
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