AS
I LAY DYING
“Shadows
Are Security”
LINE-UP
Tim Lambesis: Vocals
Phil Sgrosso: Guitar
Nick Hipa: Guitar
Jordan Mancino: Drums
Clint Norris: Bass
As a wise band once pointed out, what
happens on the road always comes home. Sure, you can
read into the darker side of that sentiment, but if
you’re talking about the San Diego quintet As
I Lay Dying, for whom the road literally has been
home since day one, the never-ending trail of unfamiliar
cities, stages and faces that comes with touring has
only cut a path toward something brighter.
Formed in early 2001 to realize the developing musical
vision of ex-Society’s Finest guitarist Tim
Lambesis, As I Lay Dying first took shape as a trio,
with (now-former) guitarist Evan White and drummer
Jordan Mancino rounding out the lineup. One month
into their lifespan, the group hit the studio to record
their first album, Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes,
released that June by Pluto
Records. As I Lay Dying caught the touring bug
shortly afterward, and started what to this day remains
a pattern: With each new tour stop came new converts
to the group’s sound, and as more people caught
on, Pluto
Records found a new best-selling release in Beneath
The Encasing Of Ashes—which, massive as it was,
barely hinted at the material As I Lay Dying still
had brewing inside of them.
Released by Pluto
Records in August of 2002, As I Lay Dying’s
split CD with fellow San Diegans American Tragedy
offered the first sign of where the band was headed.
Though the chugging breakdowns, growled vocals and
dissonant riffs of Ashes were still present in As
I Lay Dying’s five tracks, a stronger sense
of melody undercut the music’s darkness, resulting
in songs that not only stuck in your head as easily
as they tore it off, but that also started to garner
serious attention for the band. So, touring as relentlessly
as ever behind their latest effort, As I Lay Dying
found themselves landing on the radar of several prominent
record labels, with Metal Blade ultimately sealing
the deal in March of 2003—and the band’s
Metal Blade debut, Frail Words Collapse, dropping
on an unsuspecting public that July.
Long story short: Produced by Lambesis, Frail Words
Collapse crystallized everything As I Lay Dying had
been working toward into a massive knockout blow.
Even though mainstream acceptance still eluded them,
it didn’t matter: Sonically, the band had united
the classic “Göthenburg sound”—the
punch-press rhythms, snarling vocals and melancholy
riffs of seminal Swedish bands like At The Gates—with
the chugging heartbeat of modern hardcore, launching
themselves into the forefront of a new scene of metal
bubbling under in the U.S. Relentless touring, several
lineup changes and a growing fan buzz later, As I
Lay Dying found themselves setting records they didn’t
even know existed: Heavy rotation on FUSE and MTV2’S
Headbanger’s Ball for their “94 Hours”
and “Forever” videos; a No. 1 most-downloaded
spot at the now-defunct MP3.com; record sales in the
solid six-figure range based heavily on word of mouth;
and festival dates and world tours alongside heavyweights
such as Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Shadows Fall,
Lamb Of God and Hatebreed. And, of course, with each
tour came new fans, who told their friends, who told
their friends, who told… Well, you get the idea.
Enter 2005. Strengthened by the road, creatively on
fire, and with their lineup both solidified and contributing
equally to the songwriting process, As I Lay Dying
enter Big Fish Studios in Encinitas, California (the
same place they’d recorded Collapse), at the
beginning of January. With Lambesis at the production
helm, along with help from bandmate Phil Sgrosso,
and engineer/co-producer Steve Russell once again
behind the boards, the quintet sequestered themselves
until spring and emerged with their leanest, meanest
and most focused effort yet, Shadows Are Security.
“All the touring we did off Frail Words Collapse
really helped us learn what songs worked in a live
setting and which ones didn’t,” says Lambesis,
“and that helped us focus on the direction of
this record. There’s a slower, ballad-type song
[“Repeating Yesterday”], but even it serves
a purpose in tying the whole record together. As far
as energy goes, I think all these songs are gonna
be tremendous live.”
Thematically, the record is just as heavy, with Mancino’s
coffin-tight drumming and the guitarists’ melodic,
lockstep riffage dropping like exclamation points
around Lambesis’ lyrics. While he hesitates
to call Shadows a full-blown “concept album,”
Lambesis admits there’s definitely a concept,
and a very intentional sequence, guiding songs like
the soaring “Confined,” the spiritually
revealing “Control Is Dead” (featuring
Zao’s Dan Weyandt on guest vocals) and the album-summarizing
“Illusions.” “My lyrics have always
come from a very personal perspective, but this record
really is a story of the last two years of my life,
and everything I’ve learned since then,”
says Lambesis. Lyrically, the record flows in the
same way, where I start by questioning what I've been
taught, re-evaluating what’s meaningful and
recognizing what's meaningless.” If all that
sounds a little lofty, Lambesis easily brings it back
into perspective: “It’s really about love,
and learning how to love all over again.”
With (surprise, surprise) another massive tour schedule
ahead of them to support Shadows And Security, including
a prominent slot at the annual Cornerstone Festival
and one of the headliner slots on the second stage
of Ozzfest 2005, As I Lay Dying will have ample opportunities
to bring the love—and the pain, and the noise—to
audiences worldwide. And while Lambesis acknowledges
that it’d be easy to let this sort of massive
jump in the band’s profile go to his head, he
just as quickly shows how grounded in reality As I
Lay Dying are. “We all know that metalcore is
really popular right now, and sure, it would’ve
been easy for us just to write a straight-up metalcore
record to cash in on that popularity,” he says.
“But I really do feel like we’ve made
a record that, even though it’s got slight metalcore
elements, is just a timeless, classic metal record.
“Besides,” he adds, “with everything
I’ve learned about who we are as a band these
past few years, why would I ever want to go back to
the way things were?”
Shadows Are Security in stores June
14th, 2005
DISCOGRAPHY
• Frail Words Collapse
(Metal Blade Records, June 2003)
•
As I Lay Dying/American Tragedy- split
(Pluto
Records, 2002)
•
Beneath the Encasing Of Ashes
(Pluto
Records, 2001)
