The status of As I Lay Dying has been the cause of much speculation of late, with guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Ken Susi, bassist/vocalist Ryan Neff, and drummer Nick Pierce all posting cryptic departure notes on their social media accounts, leaving Tim Lambesis the sole remaining member of the band. Perhaps inevitably, in this era of instant commentary, it has sent the internet into a flat spin trying to figure out the cause of all this; but, until anything further emerges, the rampant speculation is exactly that, and it seems redundant to cover that ground here.
Regardless of where the band may be headed, new album Through Storms Ahead dropped today via Napalm Records. It is the second album since Lambesis emerged from prison, following 2019’s well-received Shaped By Fire. The line up had shifted from that album, with Ken Susi, Ryan Nef, and Nick Pierce replacing Nick Hipa, Josh Gilbert, and Jordan Mancino respectively; with Through Storms Ahead boasting the added distinction of being the first album not to feature the original members. Recorded with Hiram Hernandez, who also holds credits on four of the tracks, and mixed by Aaron Chaparian, the album sounds pristine and, whatever was going on behind the scenes, you’d certainly not know it from the quality of the performances.
The album opens with a short, acoustic prelude titled Permanence. A subtle scene-setter, it segues into full tilt A Broken Reflection. Delivered at breakneck pace, with guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Ken Susi trading riffs like men possessed, A Broken Reflection starts well but suffers from the all-too common metalcore trope of slipping in an over-processed melodic chorus (with Ryan Neff providing the cleans) that causes the momentum to falter. It’s not that melodic vocals are an issue per se, but rather the scream – clean paradigm that has vexed the metalcore scene at least since Killswitch Engage went supernova with My Last Serenade just feels too much like a road map at this point, and you long for the band to either go fully melodic or fully brutal, just to change things up a little.
Burden follows a similar path, opening amidst a flurry of explosive percussion and stabbing riffs, before adopting a more groove-oriented tempo. There’s some impressive lead work to be found here, too, but the power drops off considerably when a melodic chorus cuts right through the heart of it. With a heavily phased riff slowly coming into focus, We Are The Dead is a stronger song, while guest spots from Alex Terrible and Tom Barber further push this song in a harder direction. The simple, no-nonsense approach offers a welcome change, while the riffs hit home with considerable force. Following We Are The Dead’s frantic riffing, the cinematic introduction to Whitewashed Tomb is something of a feint, and the track soon explodes into life. Another track that falls back on a clean chorus, it handles the juxtaposition better, perhaps because of the airier guitars in the verse, although it’s still very much of its genre. Next up, the album’s title track is something of a call to arms, with Tim’s multitracked roars flooding the mix. With Phil’s nimble guitars and Nick’s frenetic drums forcing the pace, it hits hard and heavy, although the band can’t resist throwing in a soaring chorus once again.
Opening the second half of the album, we get a rather more interesting piece titles The Void Within. While replete with clean vocals, the way the track ratchets through the gears is far more interesting than elsewhere, while a dizzying lead serves to further strengthen the melodies that lie at the song’s core. Opening with an unexpectedly restrained guitar that ripples in the darkness, Strength To Survive nods to classic rock with its stair stepping guitars, although it soon picks up the pace, recalling Trivium in the process. The stuttering intro of Gears That Never Stop paves the way for one of the album’s heaviest songs, although (you probably guessed where this was heading), the band’s insistence on throwing a clean chorus at the piece once again hamstrings an otherwise impressively blistering track. Calmer guitars return to provide a more restrained opening for The Cave We Fear To Enter, a track that thankfully takes a different tack from the other pieces on offer here, bringing in the melodic vocals early, at least providing a slightly different dynamic. It leaves Taken From Nothing to round the album out with some impressively savage guitars.
Metalcore, at this point, is really starting to feel like a straitjacket and, time after time, AILD simply follow the template of atmospheric opening – blistering verse – melodic chorus to deleterious effect. Taken independently, any one of these tracks is enjoyable enough (although the heavily processed clean vocals will grate for some), but taken together, only We Are The Dead manages to excite, by breaking free of the constraints outlined above. Overall, the band’s absolute insistence on metalcore by the numbers makes this 40-odd minute album feel almost twice as long, and you get to the point that in every song you are just praying that it won’t take the easy road yet again. It’s a shame, because the musicians involved a clearly exceptionally talented and the production is strong (if a little pro-tooled for these tastes). Alas, it’s not enough to save it and, whatever the future may hold for AILD, we have to hope that the band will shake themselves free from a formula that is bordering on parody at this point. 5/10
