Track Listing:

1. Separation
2. Nothing Left
3. An Ocean Between Us
4. Within Destruction
5. Forsaken
6. Comfort Betrays
7. I Never Wanted
8. Bury Us All
9. The Sound of Truth
10. Departed
11. Wrath Upon Ourselves
12. This is Who We Are

Album Review:

 
The Metalcore scene is extremely hard to stand out in. Merging Iron Maiden's infectious melodies, guitar octave changes and noodling lead lines with the olden days of Metallica's glory thrash is nothing unseen in most European speed metal. However, throw in a dash of hardcore and Pantera/Machine Head influence and you've got the textbook definition of Metalcore. With a band like As I Lay Dying, it's easy for these guys to stand out from the crowd.

Their latest album, An Ocean Between Us, is no different. It feels fresh and new for the band's catalog as well as the genre itself. The opener, "Separation" builds a bridge of fiery thrash to walk across; "Nothing Left" echoes of Metallica's "Blackened" filled my ears. The main riff is extremely reminiscent of the And Justice For All album opener.

The growling vocals, performed by Tim Lambesis are intense, never letting up from the attack of shredding by Nick Hipa and Phillip Sgrosso's guitar work. The singing portions of the vocals, sadly, feel flat. They might want to reexamine for the next album, though I will say it works when accompanied with the growling, such as on "The Sound of Truth." Overall, Lambesis should stick to growling because it's obviously his strength in the band.

Parts of "Forsaken," specifically towards the end, feel tacked on. It plays out well, but there is too much going on at once. Normally, this is a good thing, but the band manages to somehow lose track on this song. They repair with concussive drumming by Jordan Mancino on "Comfort Betrays."

"I Never Wanted" is the "ballad" of the album, if you could call it a ballad. It still contains growling, but the beginning verses start out slow and crawl to a thumping halfway mark that brings strength to this otherwise weak song.

"Bury Us All" quickly raises the pace for the remainder of the album, which rounds out a total of 12 tracks. The band clearly developed the sound they created with their previous work on 2005's Shadows Are Security. If these guys keep it up, they'll be one of the top contenders for the Metalcore crown.

Type 3 Rating:

 
| 11.05.2007 | Review by Michael Levy |