In the three-year interim between 2007's Ocean Between Us and The Powerless Rise, San Diego's As I Lay Dying toured widely enough to cement their relationship with then-new bassist Josh Gilbert, who also picks up some backing vocal chores. It's not that that they've changed their formula so much as honed it to something so sharp it bleeds excellence. While everything here charges maniacally and furiously from the opening track -- and first single -- "Beyond Our Suffering," right on through to the set-closer "The Blinding of False Light," there are some slower intros on tracks such as "Parallels" and "Upside Down Kingdom" that work to stellar dramatic effect when the tunes give way to furious thrashing. The twin-guitar attack of Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso is sharper and heavier than ever here -- check the back and forth work on "The Only Constant Is Change" and "Anodyne Sea." At 44 minutes, The Powerless Rise feels more like 10. As a band, AILD has grown most is in their songwriting and production skills (the latter of which are now off the charts in terms of precision). The Powerless Rise, delivers on what their previous outings have handsomely promised.
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Look out world, AILD just created an album that could do major damage! Their 2007 Album AOBU was the beginning of a whole new era for the band. They've had three years to cook up some new metal.
The first song, "Beyond Our Suffering" is extremely intense song as far as brutality. Tim's screams have noticeably improved right here. Crushing riffs and frantic pounding drums make this song grab your attention. The lyrics are great on this song too: "It seems our problems solve themselves when we look beyond our suffering." All the songs are incredible, but I will highlight my favorites. "Anodyne Sea" plays at blinding speed and intensity and a memorable chorus about standing up for what you believe in. "Parallels" starts with a slower but awesome intro before it flows into a punishing verse then into a beautiful chorus and bridge, followed by a perfect solo. My personal favorite. "Anger And Apathy" is an intense emotional song about, you guessed it, anger and apathy. I can't say enough about Jordan's explosive drumming. He has gotten so much better since '07. Other tracks that highlight musical growth are "Vacancy", "Upside Down Kingdom", and "The Blinding of False Light".
In conclusion, this is some serious metal mayhem that is cohesive. You won't find many bands that do this better than AILD. It's good to hear metal that has lyrics that are backwards from what the world says. Pick this one up now!
Amazing album, must buy!!!!!!!!| Posted August 10, 2010
The powerless rise is the best album ever by AILD, it combines powerfull screams with great clean vocals and raging guitar. It has some of the hardest solos ever and they match perfectly with each song. My personal favorite song is parralells. Each song is unique yet if flows together perfectly.
4.5/5| Posted June 19, 2010
Three years ago the general public was formally introduced to metal band As I Lay Dying through their amazing album An Ocean Between Us. That album brought this band out from nowhere and made them a tour de force of the metal scene. Now we get their follow up, The Powerless Rise, and it is every bit as good as An Ocean Between Us. The production quality is cleaner and the screaming vocals are easier to understand. It's all you will ever need from a metal record. 44 minutes of in your face vocals, crunching guitar riffs and solos, and thumping double bass drumming. If you enjoyed An Ocean Between Us you will definitely enjoy The Powerless Rise.
All I can say is, WOW...| Posted May 17, 2010
There 3rd album "an ocean between us" was amazing. Crazy fast guitar and drums and amazing vocals. When I heard As I lay dying was working on a new album, I was worried it wouldn't be able to top the last one. The entire album is just as good if not better than there last one. The guitar and drums are faster then before (if that is even possible :D) and the vocals have improved alot too. They managed to keep a simillar sound to "an ocean between us" without making it sound like a copy of it.
Some of the best songs on the album include:
Beyond are suffering
Anodyne sea
without conclusion
parallels
The plague
Upside down kingdom
Condemmed
Yeah, I named over half the album. And I even left some out. I havn't listned to it enough to give a song-by-song review. BUT, I can tell you that this is an AMAZING album, defiently my favorite of the year so far. I hope this review helped you.
I love AILD| Posted May 14, 2010
When I heard AILD was writing I was exstatic. They are not my favotire band but I love them. The Powerless Rise is a great album through and through. I love "Parallels" "Condemned" and "Upside Down Kingdom." I recomend this album to any AILD fan or any metalcore fan.
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