Review by Frost on December 24, 2025.

Here we are with the eighth studio album from metalcore legends, As I Lay Dying. It comes five years after their comeback album, Shaped By Fire, received critical acclaim from fans and metal publications about the band's triumphant return to the metal world. However, that return came backpacked with a massive ground swell of turbulence that nearly permanently shattered the band, leaving them in a place that left their future all but uncertain. The drama that has swirled around this band after Tim Lambesis' attempted hit on his ex-wife back in 2013 has been omnipresent and unable to be shaken. It's impossible to speak about As I Lay Dying anymore without these unpleasant facts being brought up in conversations about them, which, in hindsight, does more than its fair share to poison the well of objective discussion about their legacy from a musical and historical perspective. That being said, I'll try to review this album as fairly as I can and not let the poisonous odor taint the merits within. Henceforth, I'll be a reviewer first and a fan second.

Before we begin, I feel a very quick recap is needed. After Tim's attempted hit, the band went on hiatus in 2014 with guitarists Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso, as well as bassist and clean vocalist, Josh Gilbert, all leaving the band to form the side project, Wovenwar. This band put out two albums before disbanding (or being put on hold). In 2016, As I Lay Dying reunited and released their comeback album in 2019, entitled Shaped By Fire. Over the course of the following three years, Josh, Nick, and drummer Jordan Mancino had fractured ties with their former band and bandmate leader completely, leaving only Phil Sgrosso and Tim to restructure the band as they toured and worked to promote their eighth studio album. Subsequent events have once more left the band's future even more uncertain than before, but we'll save that much 'til the end.

There originally was a section here talking about the music, but I don't know if such a thing is possible, what with the endless amounts of controversy that now swirl around this band. Well, I should more accurately say with Tim because, as of the time this review is likely going to be published, he's now the sole remaining member of As I Lay Dying. When you look at metal publications and websites that report on news within the scene, Tim's list of negative actions continues to pile on. Allegations range from being a domestic abuser to a gaslighting manipulator, to abusing animals, all of these allegations paint Tim in the worst light, a light that isn't very self-reflective when you know what this band used to be, and when you read the lyrics on this album.

"A picture means nothing
When the image in my head is all I see
A portrait of loathing
A painting of insecurity
I've burned the image a thousand times
To destroy the site of myself
But it left a branded mark behind
Reminding me I'm far from well"
---

"Will I ever be content with what I see?
(Will I ever be content with what I see?)
Or will my greatest oppressor (my greatest oppressor)
Always be me?"
---

"I see the pain you're drowning in
But I can't reach you
I can't save you
I feel the weight that makes you sink
But I can't reach you
Without being pulled in"
---

"I have nothing but false hope to give."
---

"From your whitewashed tomb
I don't ever want to be like you
Can't you see, you're hiding from something
Avoiding the hurt
Avoiding the darkness of your heart."
---

I could go on forever and post these lyrics about how Tim doesn't practice what he preaches in them. They are everywhere on this album. They're part of this band's DNA. These kinds of lyrics of self-reflection are, supposedly, meant for the audience to bear witness to some sort of contrition that would lead to a personal redemption in the singer's life, but what Tim seems to have failed to realize is that the subsequent exoduses that have plagued this band since reuniting may have been caused by him. As a result, these lyrics and messages become dated as soon as they've been voiced into the ether of existence.

Since I feel elucidating even further the hypocrisy of this band's lyrical lemonade, burdened with the current knowledge of their, at the time of writing this, sole beleaguered frontman and founder, Tim Lambesis, is the equivalent of beating a dead horse at this point, let's actually dive into the music itself. To start off, I can't really peer into a see-through mirror, explore the vast sea of metalcore albums released, moreso by the larger core bands, the same year this album came out, and compare and contrast them all to gauge, scientifically, which one is objectively better than the rest because for one; As I Lay Dying is the only band from those crusty, warped days of Ozzfest that I was actively listening to then and still continue to listen to today. So I'm quite familiar with their music by now. I've listened to every LP of theirs from Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes all the way, until recently, up to Shaped By Fire. Within that discography, every album they've done has been great. To me, they're one of those bands that haven't put out a bad album. Their musical output, as far as their main albums are concerned, glistens like a diamond with nary a bad album to blot its resounding vibrance.

Until this thing.

Yes, it pains me to say that this latest album is, by far, the worst album of their career. Out of all their eight studio albums, this one is the dullest, the most conflicting, the most forgettable, and the most at war with itself. Again, the foremost criticism is mostly due to its frontman being the sole lightning rod for the excesses that have plagued this band for the past decade. Now, I want to say that despite my pretty harsh initial judgment, this thing isn't beyond all redemption. Far from it. There are a number of songs on here that are good. Great, in fact. The main single, 'Burden,' is a blistering punisher that has the same electrifying tension and volcanic aggression that characterized this album's predecessor. The speedy groove transitory burst that precedes and an excellent punchy solo before the chorus is absolutely fantastic. The chorus, handled decently by Ryan Neff, is very well done and memorable, while Tim's harsh vocals continue to split the very earth beneath your feet. The chorus, to my ears, sounds like one of the last songs intended for the Shaped By Fire sessions, written specifically for Josh, but was re-recorded by Ryan Neff for this album. It shows the dynamism this band still has, despite the shake-ups. 'Strength To Survive' is the other great song, a mid-paced banger with another powerful chorus and epic vocals by Tim and damn great guitar work by Phil Sgrosso. In fact, Phil is the anchor that keeps this album on its course, despite incredibly rough waters threatening to scuttle it. His guitar work has been pivotal to this band since 2003 and this album is yet another notch in his belt, a testament to his phenomenal ability to create melodic hooks, gripping leads, and solos that been the backbone for the dozens of this band's songs that soundtracked the mid to late aughts into the 2010s, along with other songs from fellow bands like Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, All That Remains, Demon Hunter, and countless other bands they've shared the stage with over their most furtive songwriting years. Hopefully, he's found greener pastures away from his former band.

I want to make it clear there were five songs released as singles, but the first two are really worth it: 'Burden,' and the second one following immediately after, 'The Cave We Fear To Enter,' the latter being another melodic song, similar to 'The Wreckage' from their previous album, and similarly very dramatic, moody, and cinematic in scope. I would say this song is the "make or break" of the record. It is so aggressively melodic metalcore that it borders on cheesy, with lyrics that are equally as cheesy and cliché sometimes. It is a good song, nonetheless, despite the overbearing nature of the song and the lack of a solo, in this reviewer's opinion.

When it comes to the three other singles, one is okay, and the other two are meh. 'We Are The Dead' features two additional vocalists, Alex Terrible from Russian deathcore titans, Slaughter To Prevail, and Tom Barber from MySpace-era deathcore band, Chelsea Grin. Side note: I'm only calling STP "titans" in regards to their stature within the modern deathcore scene, not in the context of their music being any good. Anyway, the song is a rip-roaring hellish blast of minor tremolo-picked chords, frenetic blast beats, throat-shredding vocals from all three vocals involved, and a bone-crushing breakdown near the end that leads into a pretty solid solo. Even with the pedal being put all the way to the metal from start to finish (with the exception of the semi-atmospheric bridge), this song is just a weaker version of 'The Gatekeeper.' 'The Gatekeeper' legitimately had a guitar tone and a breakdown that screamed death metal. If not full-on Clandestine-era Entombed, it at least flirts with it throughout the song. This song tries to have a death metal edge at times, but it doesn't come close to dancing on the line between metalcore, melodic death metal, and full-on death metal. I mean, the fact that they needed to recruit two deathcore vocalists to try and sweeten the pot, or give the song some menace, doesn't add to the brutality of the song. It doesn't give it credibility with any sort of legitimate flirting with the edge of death metal, even for a little bit. But otherwise, it's a decent song. 'Whitewashed Tomb' and 'The Void Within' are the other two singles, and they're really nothing special. I suppose 'Whitewashed Tomb' is a bit better than the latter because it has a better chorus. Meanwhile, 'The Void Within' has these abysmal vocoded vocals in the pre-chorus before the first full-throated lean in to the chorus. I don't know what the band was thinking, but Ryan Neff just isn't a good fit for this band as a clean vocalist, anyway. He needed to be artificially altered because if he wasn't, he probably couldn't hit the higher notes Josh Gilbert could with absolute ease.

But what about the rest of the songs? Well, if we take away the opening instrumental, which doesn't really add anything to the album other than a little bloat, 'A Broken Reflection' is a pretty solid opener with, honestly, some of the best songwriting on the record and a chorus that sounds like it was written with Ryan in mind. Even though he has that trademark clean whine that was the bane of every metalhead's existence when bands like his were at their most popular, and, regrettably, it shows up on almost every song here like nails on a chalkboard, it fits well with this song. His cleans are utilized better on certain songs than others with 'Burden' and 'The Cave We Fear To Enter' being the best examples (the latter song gives him a songwriting credit, so it was clearly written with him in mind, as well), while songs like 'The Void Within' and the title track make you beg for either Josh to come back, or do away with the cleans altogether. I don't even remember the snoozer 'Gears That Never Stop,' nor do I care for the mediocre as hell closer track, 'Taken From Nothing.' As far as closers go, it is, unquestionably, the most forgettable one they've ever written. I mean, one album ago, they put out 'The Toll It Takes.' And an album before that, 'Tear Out My Eyes.' And an album before that, 'The Blinding Of False Light.' You get the point. One of this band's strong points is writing great closing songs. What the hell happened here? I guess that's just another aspect of this band Tim ruined.

Lastly, both the production and instrumentation are good, too. It's clean and polished as you'd expect from an As I Lay Dying record. You can hear everything clear as crystal. Every band member is giving their all. You can feel it in the performances of almost every single song, good or bad, but no matter which song you listen to, there's always a swirling undercurrent of strong tension underneath the entire record. I can't help but feel uneasy when I'm listening to songs like 'Burden' or 'The Cave We Fear To Enter' because these words almost sound like confessions that aren't worth their weight and truth. Tim is trying so desperately to give them, like he doesn't practice what he preaches. Maybe he never did? I get the sense that it was in Tim's controlling nature to control every aspect of the band through manipulation, gaslighting, and a work environment that was almost certainly very toxic. It invariably would have to end that way, what with the fact that all the people involved were part of a band fronted by an attempted murderer and steroid user. No wonder Tim is the only one at the helm now.

At the time of this writing, Tim is taking the band on tour for the 20th anniversary of their groundbreaking third album, Shadows Are Security, but with no touring members yet to be announced. The European tour is scheduled to begin in Russia at the very end of October. How appropriate when you consider the number of terrible people who are welcomed with open arms in that country. It was pretty hilarious that comments were disabled on the YouTube video announcing the tour back in May of this year. Probably for the best because the video would've been ratioed into oblivion in the comments section by people rightfully calling Tim out, as well as making the usual cringeworthy jokes in the format of the band name. The EU tour, according to their website, ends only halfway through November with no US dates announced yet. For a band of their size and their aforementioned legacy etched in the annals of modern metal history, a band whose very name is synonymous with a certain time period of the US metal scene, this fall from grace is absolutely pathetic. It just goes to show how shamefully far this legendary band has fallen, all due to the actions of its own founder, permanently tarnishing its legacy and perpetually poisoning the well of any sort of objective discussion about them henceforth. At least past a certain point. As far as people like me are concerned, I can still listen to this band's music without guilt. I'm still a fan of the band, even though I can fully recognize that the actions of Tim have been deplorable and nothing short of disgusting. His attempts to apologize have fallen on deaf ears. His attempts at distractions have only served to dampen his credibility as a reliable narrator when it comes to the inexcusable nature of his actions over the past decade that've chased his entire band, including other people in his personal and professional life, a million miles away from him. Tim is the author of his own downfall, a crestfallen man who couldn't control his anger issues and, as a result, proceeded to lose nearly everything he had worked incredibly hard to gain.

And this record is the end result of that.

RECOMMENDED SONGS: 'A Broken Reflection', 'Burden', 'Strength To Survive', 'The Cave We Fear To Enter'

Rating: 7 out of 10