An Ocean Between Us

An Ocean Between Us might officially be the album that defined the band; or in other words, it's their best release. I believe what justified this album to become what it is was because of the production and how strong the essence in the music and the band's belief in Christianity were used. The latter may not mean anything relevant, but knowing the band also settled in a lineup that carried with them since without any more changes could mean they perfected their sound.

First, I'll start by saying the band went to work with Adam D., whom I credit as the best metalcore producer; most definitely bringing out more out of the band, as well as more life out of the music. I'm also under the impression that the music and lyrical themes are stronger than ever, still performing under thrash metal influence - which since the band's debut this might be their first mature record.

Just to showcase the tracklist, this is the first record that features entirely original tracks without any re-recordings. Still releasing a 12-track record, An Ocean Between Us has a prelude and an interlude tied with the other ten available tracks. The prelude, Separation doesn't really sound unique and features some slow guitar melodies. As for the interlude to the song Wrath Upon Ourselves, Departed features faster and catchy guitar melodies, yet isn't any more different.

Nothing Left is overall a catchy, cleaner metalcore track. The weak background melody in the chorus complements the singing very well. That's just one aspect of the song, while it's standard at best and not bad for the album... so far. The title track is mostly groovy, yet standard as well. But the addition of the clean vocals in the chorus sound great, which didn't make the song sound typical. While it's the longest track on the album, Forsaken showcased a different style of riffing and sound that comes from the guitars that stand out from most of the album's offering. The clean vocals sound fantastic, too, so are the drums. It's funny how on my Frail Worlds Collapse review I mentioned that Distance Is Darkness resembles Deftones, yet the opening of I Never Wanted sounds like Deftones's famous song, Change (In the House of Flies. Anyway, I Never Wanted's length gave the song more depth on all instrumental and vocal aspects. The clean vocals, especially, were pretty powerful during the bridge/outro.

Within Destruction I think it is the first song from the band that truly sounds like thrash metal. The problem with this song, despite the influence, is how unoriginal it sounds. Another annoyingly thrash metal song is Comfort Betrays. Hell, even its length says it all. Not any different than the aforementioned thrash metal song. Bury Us All was more like it, meaning it didn't feature that worthless thrash metal influence. However, it's just a generic, short metalcore track. The Sound of Truth sounds predictable, structure-wise. Compared to the songs in the paragraph above, this one pales in comparison. Wrath Upon Us surely sounds like an improvement in terms of the thrash metal influence, but again... nobody really asked for it. It's funny that even the clean vocals sound bad. This Is Who We Are sounds like what the title suggests which means overall, the song didn't sound as bad but not great either.

With the bad thrash metal influence and following the same direction from Shadows Are Security but ending up worse, the music hasn't changed or sounded any different, let alone improved. The so-called claim that this is their best album sounds like a slap to the face. Sure it's more melodic in one way, but I believe there was room for a wider range within the music. And no disrespect towards Adam for his production, but I wouldn't count this as a quality work to his credit. Best songs are Nothing Left, Forsaken, and I Never Wanted.

May I say that As I Lay Dying may not be a terrible band in and of itself, but this album is far too overrated and definitely not that great. I hesitate to suggest that Tim Lambesis might have been sitting in a corner telling all of his band mates - "I are going to write good album." Big deal Tim, Big deal. This album is in my opinion just a polished metalcore album combined with some fancy riffs. To be wholly honest, this album sounds like a regurgitation of Demon Hunter and some melodic death metal influences added on the side.

This album starts off with and instrumental, and then the track "Nothing Left" which in my opinion is pretty solid, however a distorted guitar and a few catchy chords doesn't really scream "awesome," considering the absolutely terrible lyrics - I find it hard to find out what hell it even means. Oh yes, I am pretty sure lyrics are not THAT important in this case making a catchy song with shit lyrics is important, since it would be deceitful to set forth such an impression if that's all you're doing. If this is the case, I think Tim and his back up vocals should have shut up if they wanted to avoid this.

The rest of this album is filled with pretty basic melodic metalcore songs, the only problem is it is filled with the same kind of stuff. You have "An Ocean Between Us," which gave the album its name -- unfortunately it was sort of annoying, it was a some riffs and typical -core moments and then choruses, and it repeats itself with "Is this your salvation?..." Oh yes, sounds like Demon Hunter regurgitated. What's worse is "Within Destruction" which is just "Nothing Left" repackaged with new lyrics, yes you heard me. The rest of the album was metalcore shoved up in your noses, with the most annoying persistence.

I must admit however that I enjoyed "The Sound of Truth," which was pretty good. It begins with some decent melodic riffs, and then growling lyrics complemented by clean vocals, climaxing with a guitar solo besides that I think that I think the drumming was good too. It sounds pretty sick. However the entire album was boring, and felt to me as if this band should be renamed "Demon Hunter 2.0" or something to that degree.

Not something I'll easily listen to again.

As I Lay Dying are probably one of the most widely debated metalcore acts since the genres inception. A band promoting Christianity openly, they formed in 2000, and have released 6 albums, the best of which is unquestionably 2007's An Ocean Between Us. Comprised of 12 tracks and clocking in at 43 minutes, this album contained four singles, and was released to high critical acclaim, with HM Magazine considering it to be "the best metal album this year".

The five members of this band are exceedingly tight on this release, with the star performance going to Nick Hipa, the lead guitarist. Throughout this release, he puts on a strong show, with a particularly good solo on the song The Sound of Truth, the second single off of the album. The dual vocals from Tim Lambesis and Josh Gilbert are very nicely one on here, with the very intense screaming of the former playing off the beautiful harmony that Gilbert creates. Lambesis even takes clean vocals on the songs Nothing Left and This Is Who We Are, and is surprisingly good at them.

The rhythm guitar work from Phil Sgrosso is very well written, with some fantastic riffing found throughout this album, in particular on the songs Within Destruction and the title track. The former is a thrashy number with great screamed vocals, and the speedy riffing on the title track is the highlight of that song. The bass work is nearly inaudible, but when it can be distinguished, it appears to do its job very well. Jordan Mancino is also a very talented musician, laying down some exceedingly fast, complex patterns, far above the standards that the metalcore genre would indicate.

The best song on this album, in my opinion, is I Never Wanted. This is far different from the rest of the album, being played at a much slower pace, with some absolutely heart wrenching lyrics that really do create the feeling of an absolute void inside the vocalist's head. The clean vocals and screams are performed simultaneously to begin with, which creates a truly unmatched sound. Of every metalcore song i have ever heard, this is undoubtedly the best i have ever heard, with some great instrumentals found as well.

The opening two songs, Separation and Nothing Left, truly do their job perfectly. Separation is an instrumental only, with some great guitar work, that creates an atmosphere of longing, and Nothing Left has a fantastic staccato riff, that really kicks the album off properly in superb style. Once again, the lyrics on here are top notch, the drumming is great, and the vocals are fantastic. This is one of the two tracks in which Tim Lambesis takes all of the vocals, and whilst his clean vocals may well not be as powerful as Josh Gilbert's, they still fit the music very well.

The title track is a fast, aggressive number that features an unrivaled rage throughout the metalcore genre, that goes so well with the flow of this album, and speeds things up some more after the fantastic Nothing Left. The clean chorus absolutely screams regret, and takes the cake as one of the finest moments throughout the album, standing right out among the rest of the song. The drumming is the main focus point on this song, however, being highly technical and well performed by Jordan Mancino.

The Sound of Truth is home to the best guitar work on the album, with some great riffs topped off by the most amazing solo the band has ever written. The vocals are utterly chaotic, and the drumming is as powerful as the rest of the album. The lyrics are truly amazing, and this is another one of the best things about the album on the whole. The lyrics to this album are really well thought out, and clearly had a lot of effort put into them, conveying a multitude of emotions.

The production on this album is not the best the music scene has ever shown, but is clean enough for an album like this. The bass could be a little louder, and i feel the rhythm is far too loud in the mix, but other than that, the production is fine. The drums sound absolutely pristine, and there are no really flat moments that detract from the overall package, which is nice to hear from an album by a band of this caliber.

Unfortunately, this album also seems to drag on for too long. The songs Bury Us All and the second instrumental, Departed, seem to break up the flow of the album, with the first one being a typical metalcore song that fails to do anything new, and disappears among the quality that is found throughout this album. Departed merely is a build up to the amazing Wrath Upon Ourselves, but manages to completely kill the buzz carried over from The Sound of Truth.

When compared to the past work by this band, and what would come after, i believe this is fighting for the top spot with Frail Worlds Collapse. Both are marvelous slices of metalcore, with great instrumentals. Each album had killer songs, with Frail Worlds Collapse having Forever, which tops everything off of An Ocean Between Us, but much of AOBU is better than what is on Frail Worlds Collapse. In the discography of this band, however, it is a good step forward, as it evolved the drum patterns and lead guitar and lyrics, the three core areas the band needed to step their game up in. For any fan of the metalcore genre, or just anyone wanting a band that is highly proficient with well thought out music, this is a must, but is not perfect.

As a record goes, this one feels to have been produced to be more along the lines of an EP, with nothing left and the sound of truth playing the part of the start and end of a story.
Whilst the album sounds much like an EP, it also possesses some very much commercially oriented tracks, again, nothing left and the sound of truth, both in rhythm and lyrically, with a very much *emo* chorus to both, but this is more than made up in part thanks to the instrumental beginnings to both; technical, and a delight to listen to. If anything, these 2 tracks make the whole album gain a few marks from me, where as the third third (other release) off this album takes a much less aggressive stance, with an almost acoustic feel to it.

The rest of songs off this album aren't exactly noteworthy, but they're not poor either, very few memorable riffs to talk of, largely because they feel to have been used as an accompaniment to the vocals, laid down thick and fast by Tim, with a few lighter choruses thrown in for good measure, much like pretty much every other metalcore act going at the moment, so they're not breaking the mold or anything.
The guitarists are clearly very skilled, albeit, appear to be wasted producing this album, largely through to the vocalist taking centre stage, as opposed to the other way around on other bands' releases as of late; this being said, what's being played is very respectable, with regards to complexity and ensuring the album's listened to from start to finish.

Were this album untitled, you could be mistaken for imagining it to have been released from a metalcore giant, Trivium, as it shares both the same form of vocals, and drumming throughout the more melodic songs off Ascendancy being comparable to some of the other songs off this album. That being said, this album feels to have been given more consideration, and would therefore need to become mainstay in any metalcore listeners' CD bank, as this would be a difficult album to top, both for AILD, or any other metalcore act to follow, for that matter.

I’m going to be honest here, although As I Lay Dying is my favourite band, I really wasn’t a fan of their previous album (Shadows Are Security). It just seemed as if they hadn’t put much thought into what they were writing and produced a generic metalcore album that would shut the fans up for a time. I didn’t buy this. The main problem I had with it is that most of the songs just sounded the same! There were only three notable tracks (The Darkest Nights, Reflection and Through Struggle) and although they’re truly great tracks, there weren’t enough to really bring it above a 4/10 mark. So when they announced their new album I was hoping that they were going to be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat, as it were, and unleash the beast that As I Lay Dying can be. With An Ocean Between Us they certainly have...and some!

When you first start up the album you are first introduced to an intro track (Separation), which is something As I Lay Dying haven’t ever done before. It’s a nice little tune to get you into the mood for listening to music. But once this track is over, you’d better fasten your seatbelt, because it’s about to get rocky!

Straight after this almost peaceful intro, you are thrown straight into the deep end with the simply savage ‘Nothing Left’. This is truly a stunning track, and in my opinion the best track of the album! It’s just that raw, savage energy that’s given off by the powerful main guitar riff, which makes you want to bang your head like nothing before. It’s not only just the amount of energy that this track creates; it’s how God damn catchy it is! With the combination of the savage guitars and clean vocals and to this song, which you are certainly going to hear yourself chanting as you go through your day, makes for a stunning song! This one song sets out the layout for a good part of the album (tracks 2-6). In all these songs As I Lay Dying has used the effects of savage guitars or incredibly catchy clean vocals to their advantage. These effects are displayed prominently in the song ‘Forsaken’. The vicious guitaring, which is enough to make anybody turn in their grave accompanied with catchy clean vocals and you have yourself quite a song!

However, in these songs there is something that I never expected to hear on an As I Lay Dying album. Thrash. Yes you heard it right, Thrash. The track ‘Within Destruction’ shows a real different side to As I Lay Dying, which proves that they aren’t just trapped to one style of music. They can expand and adapt to what they want. It’s not Slayer or anything, but it shows the stronger more aggressive side to As I Lay Dying. I personally (being a big fan of Thrash), welcome this change. This will draw in more fans from a wider audience, which can only be a good thing.

Although As I Lay Dying have changed a fair amount as song writers so far with this album, however, the apple never falls far from the tree and we are reminded of this with the song ‘I Never Wanted’. This is a tradition spanning back from Frail Words Collapse. In about the middle of the album, there is a much slower song compared with the others on the album. In the last album though, I really felt that it wasn’t needed, it really broke the flow of the album and suffered because of it. However in this album the song has had a lot more thought pit to it and it doesn’t just sound like a breakdown with some vocals added for fun. The song is well structured, has good chanting style vocals and in my opinion it’s a crucial part of the album, because it gives you a break from madness of the previous songs.

After the calm break that was ‘I Never Wanted’ you are presented with the heaviest song on the album ‘Bury Us All’. More often than not As I Lay Dying’s lyrics are about relationships and inner struggles, however ‘Bury Us All’ is an exception to the rule with brutal lyrics such as ‘leading us into an unmarked grave’ (this style of song is also repeated in ‘Wrath Upon Ourselves’). Again this is something that As I Lay Dying has never done before. As the song is so heavy (for As I Lay Dying) it seems only fitting that the lyrics would be changed accordingly and As I Lay Dying have managed to pull it off very well.

The next notable track of the album is ‘The Sound Of Truth’, which in my opinion is the second best track of the album. The song is structured in a similar way to some of the early songs on the album (i.e. ‘Forsaken’), but this time it’s more technical and with a solo that seems to be from the heavens!

As the album starts to draw to a close, you are introduced to the song ‘Departed’. This song is similar to ‘Separation’ but this time it’s just less than 2 minutes of pure guitar solo and it’s heaven. Finally as the album actually does draw to an end, As I Lay Dying presents you with ‘This Is Who We Are’. A more Thrashy song which is similar in ways to ‘Within Destruction’ however, this time it has a clean vocal chorus. ‘This Is Who We Are’ also features an unusual piano ending. Although it’s something never heard on an As I Lay Dying album, it’s a nice tune which lets you reflect on the album as whole.

In conclusion, An Ocean Between Us is a stunning, fantastic, amazing album, there are simply no flaws in it (in my opinion). From the savage riff of ‘Nothing Left’, to the clean vocals of ‘The Sound Of Truth’ it’s just non-stop brilliance!

The metalcore scene, with its melodic death and groove metal inspirations married with the horrid concept of screamo/emo dual vocals, was one that became stale all too quickly. Even those who brought the genre into the mainstream, bands like Killswitch Engage and to some extent Hatebreed, eventually become tired and uninspired. This also introduces waves after waves of mindless clones, most of whom can't help but fall as soon as they rose. Interestingly enough, one band who I thought I'd never really care much for, As I Lay Dying, breaks the mold a little bit. Don't expect anything mind blowingly awesome here, for we are still firmly planted in the world of metalcore.

"An Ocean Between Us," which isn't exactly a title you'd expect on a metal album as the title itself hints at the emo scene (and sounds like the typical nonsense emo band name) manages to score a position above most carbon copy bands of the 21st Century. Yet As I Lay Dying apparently knew that metalcore was fast dying and went about throwing some additional influences and styles into the mix. Unlike the now out of control deathcore craze, meshing these influences together was done with cohesion, instead of technically impressive gibberish with no form of structure. I applaud As I Lay Dying for this, and perhaps I judged them a little too quickly.

After a pretty pointless intro, we get into the first proper song in "Nothing Left." While I had expectations of something "different" from your standard metalcore (as was promised by frontman Tim Lambesis) "Nothing Left" is basically standard metalcore. It manages not to dive into vapid tedium like most of the genre, but its metalcore nonetheless with its hardcore inspired riff and the usual barking vocal style. The title track breaks away from this some, giving the listener some emo-inspired vocals. Believe it or not, I did not have to puncture my ear drums over the emo vocals here. The chorus vocals (where the emo influences come out) have been pushed back and the guitars brought forward, where they should have be with any metal band. "Forsaken" also dives into emo-land, a little more so than the title track and while undoubtedly catchy and sure to be a fan favorite, that song is just too sappy for my tastes.

Now the real exciting part of this album comes with "Within Destruction." Now, As I Lay Dying are not a thrash band, nor is "An Ocean Between Us" a thrash album. However, "Within Destruction" shows some thrash influence popping up, albeit with some odd breakdowns thrown in. Still, it manages to catch the listener's ear, and is a welcome change from the usual breakdown infested boredom that accompanies most metalcore bands. "The Sound of Truth" also throws in some good moments, though nothing really compares to the effort put into "Within Destruction," probably the best song here.

As with most bands of this caliber, you can expect a good number of these songs to run together. Once we drop past "Forsaken," things get too same sounding which then runs into tedium which then runs into an album of forgettable stuff. None of these songs were utterly revolting, which is more than I can say for the majority of metalcore albums I've heard out of the U.S. and beyond. "An Ocean Between Us" is a decent listen for the most part, even for me, someone who usually avoids metalcore like the plague. I still wouldn't advise fans check into this simply based on the thrash influences of "Within Destruction," because those looking for more thrash than "core" will be sorely disappointed. Its still metalcore as we all know it, even if Tim Lambesis is manlier than most of the emasculated whiners in the genre today, emitting some halfway acceptable hardcore inspired barks.

"An Ocean Between Us" does offer some good moments and as far as I'm concerned probably the best the genre has to offer in terms of mainstream output. Fans of metalcore will definitely find something to like here, though others who generally wouldn't look this album's way might want to consider seeking it out in the discount area. The steep $14 price tag I've seen slapped on this baby at most retailers is just too much for the average metal to shell out given the quality material they're given.

This album is the best effort by As I Lay Dying, but it still lacks any overall sense of being a good album. The guitar work on this album is much better than their previous albums, The Sound of Truth even has a pretty good guitar solo. The drums sound considerably better on this release, meaning they don't sound like someone is beating one of those little bongos you find for sale at tourist shops. As for Tim Lambesis...not much improvement on the vocals.

One big improvement on this album is speed. There are some songs that actually have a considerably fast tempo to them, such as Comfort Betrays and Within Destruction. Meanwhile there are less songs on this album that have that continuous droning of the downtuned guitars. Yet they are still present and become overly monotonous.

Along with the sound of the drums improving, they are actually in sync with the music most of the time. There is better bass playing by the drummer as well, alternating his patterns of kicks rather than continuous double bass followed by a couple of regular kicks before he dives into his continuous bass again.

As for the vocalist I don't know who beat the shit out of him as a child but he may be the most whiny vocalist in metalcore. The extent of his vocals ranges from deep screams hardly distinguishable from the next shitty metalcore band, to his whiny fucking "melodic" sounding sections. His screams are very monotone and boring, hardly even a scream. Still just as bad as every other album by this band.

The only standout song on this album is The Sound of Truth. The lead riff is actually mildly catchy, and the drumming is decent on this song. The most standout part of this song is the guitar solos, which are actually respectable, and make the lead riff better when it comes in after them. Other than The Sound of Truth this album is just another weak semi-metalcore album that is a little better than the bands previous releases.

Ah, yes, the infamous "As I Lay Crying". I came into this album with the preconception that I'd leave it with an aching head and a disappointed musical appetite. What with the silly haircuts, stupid lovesong album title, and artwork that looks like it should be a TapOut t-shirt, could I really expect anything good from this album? No. I was wrong.

This band is obviously a very guitar heavy one. The guitars have a great tone, the sustained power chords seem to simmer with energy and distortion, and the riffs slam against the ear like a train against a pidgeon. Aha, yes, there lies the salvation of the album. The riffs. This album is loaded with great thrash riffs, such as on "Within Destruction", "Comfort Betrays", "Bury Us All", and "Wrath Upon Ourselves". This is a collection of great, high-intensity, lowend thrash riffs. And therein lies the problem. The best riffs are the low end ones. The songs are often riddles with unnecessary, "melodic", higher riffs overdubbed during the choruses and such. These riffs take away from the power and weaken the album significantly.

Another example of the "melodicism" getting in the way of this album is in the clean vocals. These are also found in the choruses. There are often quite brutal and great growls under these, but these All Time Low-esque, autotuned drones take away from the experience also. The only example of a song using these two things to its advantage is "The Sound Of Truth". The higher pitched guitar is actually really catchy and great, and it actually compliments the song, instead of dragging it down. The solos on the album are pretty good too. They could definitely be better, but they work.

The drumming is not anything to get excited about. It's very generic, metalcore drumming. Nothing special about it. Double bass, slow blast beats, ect. Occasional 12ths to throw you off guard, but nothing too rhythimically displacing to make it interesting. Oh yeah, and the bass was absent during the recording sessions apparently.

Overall, an okay album. The ones I mentioned are the only ones worth getting in my opinion. This might have gotten an 80, but there was too much repetition and filler to warrant a B-.

Standout Tracks: "Comfort Betrays", "Bury Us All", "The Sound Of Truth"
Recommended to: Metalcore Fanboys, people who love softcore guitar porn, and a few tracks recommended to fans of thrash metal, as long as the crappy "melodic" parts don't detract too much".

In my opinion As I Lay Dying hasn’t been a metalcore band since before Shadows Are Security, on that album they introduced a more melo-death based sound with breakdowns. On An Ocean Between Us As I Lay Dying has now incorporated thrash metal into their brand of melo-death. It works exceptionally well on An Ocean Between Us where most songs while thrashy are very melodic and breakdowns are still present. Another new thing for As I Lay Dying is the presence of an intro song and an interlude (both being guitar based).

The songs themselves range from all out melo-death/thrash to more mid paced melodic numbers. Solos are frequently placed throughout the album instead of one or two solos on previous albums and each solo is somewhat melodic. The production is top-notch, nothing to complain about there. The vocals are good in both there clean and harsh forms. Drumming is solid out of the ordinary it just provides the rhythm. The guitars are obviously the highlight of An Ocean Between Us because they provide great riffs, leads, and harmony throughout. The bass is audible for the most part, but like the drums just provides rhythm.

The downside to An Ocean Between Us is that the second half’s material is weaker and loses some of the momentum of the first half. The breakdowns while entertaining don’t fit well with the faster paced material. Finally the album closing track This Is Who We Are ends with a quiet piano part which just doesn’t fit with the rest of the albums songs.

An Ocean Between Us is an excellent album and it will be very hard for As I Lay Dying to top this album in the future. Don’t believe what many of the As I Lay Dying bashers believe judge this album on its musical qualities not its reputation. Best songs are Nothing Left, the title track, Forsaken, Comfort Betrays, and The Sound Of Truth. I recommend this album to fans of As I Lay Dying, and melo-death.

-4 points weaker second half
-2 points breakdowns were not needed
-2 points piano part on This Is Who We Are doesn’t fit on this album

I was very apprehensive to give this disk a listen. Between the songs I had heard in the past, those god-awful emo-esque haircuts they often sport, and the majority of the crowd who enjoys this band, I was very afraid that this would be some pseudo-metal, hardcore, punk-ish amalgamate of crap. However, the interesting introduction of ‘Separation’ kept my interest long enough to get to the awesome song ‘Nothing Left’, giving me faith in this disk.

Overall, the guitars sound great. The cleans, the distortions, they all have great tones, and the riffs are pretty good. There are certainly some standard metalcore breakdowns, but thrashy riffs like the intro to ‘Nothing Left’ and more melodic riffs like ‘The Sound of Truth’ keep the tempos varying, and sound great. The bass tends to blend in with the guitar - but is that much of a surprise in modern metal bands? Their drummer is solid, and his parts have a great precision to them. Personally, I like the double bass with the chugged riff sound a lot, which is used pretty frequently. The cymbals could use to be mixed a little better in my opinion, but overall the drums certainly do a good job on this disk. However, the place where I thought I’d have the most trouble enjoying, and still do, is in the vocals. Tim’s screams sound more like a hardcore band’s vocalist trying to bust out a raspy scream. It doesn’t do much for me, as it sounds fairly forced - the type of scream where as soon as you hear it, you can imagine the singer with a comb over. I don’t mean to play stereotypes, but those of you familiar with a lot of up and coming bands in metalcore can likely understand the point I’m trying to make. What pleasantly surprised me were the clean vocals. There are some great clean parts such as the chorus of ‘Wrath Upon Ourselves’, and also are pretty catchy in ‘This Is Who We Are’, however, songs like ‘I Never Wanted’ watch them falter and fall into a far-too-soft, out of place feel on this disk.

In my opinion, anyone into metal could find a lot to enjoy in these riffs. They are heavy, well-produced, with some great rhythm in the drums and bass to back them up. Where you’ll find your grief is in the vocals. Even in songs like ‘Forsaken’, where I really enjoy the riffs and song structure, the clean vocals can get sounding a little too happy and cheesy for the song. It’s a type of sound you’ll have to hear for yourself to decide if you can tolerate them or not.

So here’s what we have so far: well-written, thoughtful riffs that show melody over self-fellating technicality, precise drums that do great justice to this disk, and semi-tolerable vocals. However, this album certainly has some downer points. ‘Within Destruction’ is a full thrash-fest, and I find it disinteresting because the song comes off as trying to be too heavy. Ironically, there’s a great part where you hear some solid blasting from the drummer right in the middle of the song that sounds excellent. ‘Comfort Betrays’ is a similar styled track, very heavy and bidding temporary farewell to the melody that seems to run through the rest of the disk. This one isn’t quite as bad, the riffs have a little more variance, but still is a relative low point of the disk. Following that track is ‘I Never Wanted’, the worst track on here which really is the type of song I was afraid of hearing on this disk. The soft, over-dramatic intro, with that awful chorus of singing and screamed vocals that are mashed up so horribly, and even the screams sound terrible over this song. The whole thing feels mashed up and is definitely one worth skipping on every listen. I wish their heavier songs I mentioned before were more like ‘Bury Us All’ - still in that heavy vein, but with a lot more groove that can grab your attention and make you aware it’s a heavy song, without trying to force it with generic thrashy riffs.

In spite of those flaws, I still enjoy this album a lot - especially since I was afraid to listen to it at first. It has a lot of great songs on it, with a nice intro song, and the interlude ‘Departed’ is pretty interesting to listen to the first few times, though loses it’s ethereal novelty after a while.

Top Three Tracks: ‘Nothing Left’, ‘Wrath Upon Ourselves’, ‘Bury Us All’

As I Lay Dying seem as though they will always be in the middle of the pack. They don't suck, but I don't think many people consider them their favorite band either. With the release of An Ocean Between Us, the band has tried to stray slightly from their purely metalcore sound as have many others such as Unearth and All That Remains, to a slightly thrashier Bay Area kind of sound, and I think it works.

There are less breakdowns and chug-a-chug riffs than before, with just as many squeals and short runs. A few riffs sound like they could have been taken straight out of Ride the Lightning, the opener "Nothing Left" being a good example of this. Tim Lambesis' vocals are awesome, that is one thing I really have to give these guys, they get things done in the vocal department. Although the cleans are very very clean and sugarcoated, it does not detray the feel of the songs in which they are put. In fact the title track "An Ocean Between Us" has a very memorable melodic chorus.

This is just a very predictable release with a bunch of pretty good riffs. As I Lay Dying are definitely not trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather they just try to be good at what they do. And although this release doesn't stretch any boundaries whatsoever, I'll take this over Trivium any day of the week.

Metalcore is never an easy genre to review. Especially nowadays when most of the new bands keep insisting on mixing the breakdowns typical of the hardcore genre with riffs "borrowed" from an At the Gates or early In Flames album. As I Lay Dying made that task a little easier with An Ocean Between Us. It's a metalcore album sure, but this isn't run-of-the-mill metalcore. It’s a lot more thrashy, heavier, and especially more varied than their 2005 release Shadows Are Security. While Shadows Are Security was a good album, it lacked that special something that made their Metal Blade debut Frail Words Collapse a great album. An Ocean Between Us shows the band improving in both technical abilities and songwriting, especially on the guitar work. Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa surprised me on this one with their thrashy riffs and melodies/solos, especially on the first single "Nothing Left," the title track, and "Forsaken." Tim Lambesis is great on the vocal department, as I expected. I've always considered him one of the best screamers of the genre. The new bass player Josh Gilbert sings some clean vocals here and there, creating a nice contrast with Tim's screams. As always, Jordan Mancino excels on the drums. To conclude, this is As I Lay Dying's best work so far and probably one of the better modern metal releases of 2007.

(originally written for Pivotal Rage)