* En anglais uniquement
San Diego's
As I Lay Dying are a metalcore band whose sound employs elements of melodic death, grindcore, and hooky classic metal. After initially emerging as a Christian guitar/drums/vocals trio (whose lyrics never reflected their beliefs) with their highly regarded, self-recorded full-length Beneath the Encasing of Ashes in 2001, they signed to Metal Blade and became a quintet whose brutal attack and meaty riffs drew legions of fans across the globe, making them a festival headliner. Their 2007 long-player,
An Ocean Between Us, debuted at number eight on the Top 200. In 2014, the band split after vocalist
Tim Lambesis was sentenced to prison for his role in a plot to kill his estranged wife. Remarkably,
As I Lay Dying's members, who had previously sworn never to work with the singer again, reunited with him in 2018 and released
Shaped by Fire for
Nuclear Blast the following year.
The group formed as a trio in 2001 with vocalist
Tim Lambesis, drummer
Jordan Mancino, and guitarist Evan White, and shortly thereafter released Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. A split CD with
the American Tragedy followed the next year. In 2003 the band signed with Metal Blade and released
Frail Words Collapse. After the album's release, White left the band and the remaining core of the group,
Lambesis and
Mancino, drafted two guitarists to replace him,
Phil Sgrosso and
Nick Hipa, and also landed a bass player in Clint Norris. The new lineup recorded
Shadows Are Security, released in 2005.
As I Lay Dying next issued
A Long March: The First Recordings in May 2006, which included their 2001 out-of-print debut, along with two versions of their songs from the 2002
American Tragedy split. The band then spent that summer on the Sounds of the Underground metal-hardcore tour alongside acts like
In Flames,
GWAR,
Trivium, and
Cannibal Corpse.
Soon after, Clint Norris left to pursue life as a family man and Josh Gilbert replaced him on bass. With the addition of Gilbert's vocal harmonies, the band's sound became more melodic, and in August 2007, the group released its fourth album,
An Ocean Between Us. In 2009, the band released a three-DVD collection called
This Is Who We Are. The set included a documentary, a live gig, and assorted videos and tidbits. Arriving as it did after a two-year hiatus, it was welcomed enthusiastically by the band's near fanatical fan base. In 2010,
As I Lay Dying returned to record store shelves proper when the band issued the 11-cut
Powerless Rise on Metal Blade. The next year, to commemorate their tenth anniversary as a band,
As I Lay Dying released the compilation
Decas, which featured the band covering songs by influential acts like
Slayer and
Judas Priest, as well as some new material and remixes. In 2012, the band hit the studio with punk icon and producer
Bill Stevenson to record its sixth album,
Awakened, which arrived on Metal Blade later that year.
On May 7, 2013,
Lambesis was arrested in California after hiring an undercover detective to murder his estranged wife, the mother of his children. Though he initially pled not guilty, he later changed his plea to guilty. Before he pled guilty, though,
Mancino,
Sgrosso,
Hipa, Gilbert, and vocalist
Shane Blay formed another musical project under the name
Wovenwar and played an entirely different style of music. Amazingly,
Lambesis also found time to release
Triple Brutal by his own side project
Austrian Death Machine while awaiting trial. After altering his plea agreement,
Lambesis was sentenced to six years in May of 2014. After years of reaching out to his former bandmates to make amends (that eventually resulted in some strained personal relationships that split
Wovenwar),
Lambesis eventually won them over and the lineup of himself,
Hipa,
Sgrosso, Gilbert, and
Mancino reunited under the
As I Lay Dying banner. The singer's bandmates posted a long statement concerning their reasons for reuniting in the metal press and on social media.
As I Lay Dying played their first reunion show in June in San Diego. They booked European and American tours (most dates sold out immediately), though some venues on both sides of the pond either declined to book them outright or dropped them afterwards due to protests from other bands and patrons. After signing a deal with
Nuclear Blast, the band issued the single "Redefined" (featuring
Jake Luhrs of
August Burns Red) in April of 2019, and their first full length in seven years, with the self-produced
Shaped by Fire in September. ~ Wade Kergan