Now featuring 20 percent more angst.

As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

[4.5/5]

It's refreshing to see a young band continuously improve through good, old-fashioned hard work. As I Lay Dying's 2003 debut Frail Words Collapse was a C+ at best, but showed glimpses of something special looming. Two records and an absurd amount of tour dates later, we're talking about one of the best pure-metal bands America has to offer (which may or may not be saying much, depending on the length and color of your hair). An Ocean Between Us rocks with the same vicious force of 2005's Shadows Are Security and has a sense of urgency that wasn't always apparent in previous efforts. The band still inject melodies into the album's obvious singles, but Ocean is clearly a relentless, 45-minute speed-metal romp (minus the throwaway 80-second intro track) that sits better with Scandanavian metal gods At The Gates and the Haunted than previous comparisons to more melody-driven bands like Killswitch Engage. Even the lyrical content is stepped up, despite seeming a bit of an afterthought against a sea of blastbeats and terrorizing guitar riffs. Three records deep, it's hard to tell where the boys from San Diego can progress next, but we can safely say the product finally equals the hype, and that's a great thing. (METAL BLADE) Kevin Wade

ROCKS LIKE:
Shadows Fall's The War Within
Trivium's Ascendancy
Arch Enemy's Wages Of Sin


Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/asilaydying