ALBUM REVIEW: Shaped By Fire – As I Lay Dying
For 14 years, San Diego quintet AS I LAY DYING, led by vocalist Tim Lambesis and drummer Jordan Mancino, were the crème de la crème of metalcore, leading the genre through the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal alongside KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TRIVIUM and, to a lesser extent, ALL THAT REMAINS. Following Lambesis‘ incarceration in 2014, the future of the band was uncertain at best, with the remaining members going into the form WOVENWAR with Shane Blay of OH, SLEEPER – to mediocre reception. Through rehabilitation, Lambesis worked on his redemption behind the scenes, reconnecting with his former band mates as friends first, then on a musical level. Together, the quintet have crafted Shaped By Fire – their first release since 2012’s Awakened, and a statement of intent for AS I LAY DYING‘s future.
Accusations have flown fast since AS I LAY DYING‘s reunion that Mancino, guitarists Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso, and bassist Josh Gilbert have abandoned their principles, reuniting with Lambesis purely as a cash-grab due to the lacklustre success of WOVENWAR. Shaped By Fire serves as ironclad evidence to the contrary. The songwriting throughout the record serves as some of the most passionate, imaginative and strongest of their career – a collaboration that could only have come from a close-knit unit.
Burn To Emerge serves as the industry-standard intro track, leading into the most recent video single, Blinded. Absolute classic AS I LAY DYING riff work is an instant reminder of why the band are at the top of the genre, with bursts of lead-work, soloing and trem-picking offering something outside the standard from what we’d expect from the band. Lambesis‘ lyrics are about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but it’s impossible to not feel something as Gilbert bellows out the chorus: “Have you ever been blinded by the pain?/ Losing yourself inside of the heartache/ Does that mean we cannot change? Or will we always be seen that way?”
On the subject of choruses, while always a strength for AS A LAY DYING, the band have outdone themselves massively – both in terms of the writing and in Gilbert‘s stunning execution. All four of the video singles – Blinded, title track Shaped By Fire, Redefined and, of course, My Own Grave – carry absolutely massive, singalong choruses that, masterfully crafted such as they are, are impossible to remove from your subconscious; even after just the first listen. This talent for creating huge hooks extends beyond the singles, however. Undertow, Torn Between and The Wreckage all offer huge, unforgettable choruses, while Gatekeeper keeps it simple, but punishing.
The real crowning glory of Shaped By Fire, however, is that it completely changes the game for AS I LAY DYING‘s songcraft. By the time Awakened rolled around in 2012, we all had a pretty solid of idea of what to expect from the band. Shaped By Fire has, somehow, managed to completely turn these expectations on their head, while still sounding quintessentially AS I LAY DYING-esque. Undertow creates an atmosphere unheard of in previous works from the band, offering blues-tinged soloing and a breakdown that would make even the most hardened deathcore fan throw down, while The Wreckage, while rooted in the band’s classic sound, leans more heavily on Hipa‘s lead work and brings a schizophrenic turn between the full-blown energy and soft, emotional moments. Closing track The Toll It Takes delivers an unprecedented level of crushing despair, mixing minor keys with punishing beatdown riffs in a manner that’s simpler than the standard AS I LAY DYING sound, but effective nonetheless.
Continuing the experimentation and masterful expansion of their core sound, Gatekeeper is one of the biggest departures for the band, and, coincidentally, one of Shaped By Fire‘s highlight moments. Gone are many of the metalcore tropes here; AS I LAY DYING delve fully into a death/thrash assault, with brutalising riffs, borderline crossover thrash grooves and chaotic solo work. Gatekeeper comes totally out of nowhere, leaving the listener left scraping their jaw from the floor in its wake. Meanwhile Take What’s Left leans hardest into the melodic death metal influence of the band, with elements sounding more akin to INSOMNIUM than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Penultimate track Only After We Have Fallen joins Gatekeeper and Take What’s Left as one of the album’s strongest moments, creating an unparalleled energy, led by trem-picking and Lambesis trading lines with Gilbert.
Reinvention is a key theme running through Shaped By Fire. From the art-work, their first ever to not feature their trade-marked skull logo, to Lambesis‘ lyrics of meditation, self-reflection and growth. Even the music itself, while still very much recognisable as an AS I LAY DYING record, carries a refined edge, leaning more into the melodic death metal stylings that birthed the genre than ever before. All of this comes together creating, cliché though it may sound, both the heaviest and most melodic album of the band’s career. Not only this, but the hopeful atmosphere, career-best songwriting and flawless execution make Shaped By Fire unarguably the strongest AS I LAY DYING album since their landmark 2007 opus An Ocean Between Us – potentially even surpassing it.
Rating: 10/10
Shaped By Fire is set for release September 20th via Nuclear Blast Records.
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