Combining the hardness of nu metal and the catchiness of pop punk, metalcore has been created. Similar to the way ska died, and everybody moved to the pop punk, perhaps this is the new installment in music that will make kids feel "underground" without having to go any further than the local Hot Topic. Walk no further than a Tower Records or Wherehouse and you will be greeted by an ambush of A Static Lullaby, From Autumn To Ashes, and Avenged Sevenfold CDs. So what does this all mean about As I Lay Dying's Frail Words Collapse, you are probably pondering with your finger pointed at your rainbow hacky sack resting upon your subwoofer. Well, this album rests in the same genre as all these watered down acts, and I'm sure will be liked by the same people that like those, but ignore all that! For one, there is an obvious musical influence rooted deep in metal and partially in hardcore. For two, there isn't an obvious fashion influence rooted deep in Orange County. For three, the cover of this album doesn't have a skull on it and the band name doesn't have the word "death" in it. Actually...scratch three.
For fans of their previous effort Beneath the Casing of Ashes, Frail Words Collapse in no way is a carbon copy. The vocals are still just as harsh, but they are sharper and cleaned up. They sound less like a dungeon keeper and more like a black knight. A surge of melody, faster "technical" guitar parts, and danceable breakdowns have been added, making the songs a lot less boring. This definitely engulfs Beneath the Casing of Ashes in all ways.
The vocals seem to be the only thing holding back the third track, "Forever", from air play on the radio. The melodies themselves are clean and pretty catchy as far as metal goes, and the chorus has singing/whining backups informing you that "I gave my heart away." It's also nice how they made the chorus a breakdown, adding to the accessibility of it. The way they recorded the double bass is very nice, it sounds very on. In the first song there is a double bass part that is so fast it almost sounds like a drum machine, unless you regularly listen to bands like Pig Destroyer. Actually...that is a drum trigger, but it still counds cool. It would've been nicer if they had more harmonizing guitar parts on the album like they do in "94 Hours", the song with the "omg so fast liek drum part." Overall, the drumming is definitely very tight.
I thought I was the only one who still liked Deftones, but after listening to "Distance Is Darkness", it's nice that their influence is still around. The ending of this song if sung by Chino would've sounded like an unreleased Deftones song from White Pony. The weakest song would definitely be "Behind Me Lies Another Fallen Soldier" which rises and never really goes anywhere. Their attempt at writing an epic ballad failed.
If you find bands like Converge to be too hard and crazy for you, and bands like Atreyu to be soft and watered down, this is the album for you. Just don't look at this for innovation, just for something metal solid.
