Spotlight: As I Lay Dying, Still Remains

So this week we went a little metalcore on everyone. Is there anything wrong with liking metalcore music? Not really. Basically for me a good/great metalcore band is a band that has some great vocals, both growls and singing, and some killer drumming and riffs. Killswitch Engage is a great example of a great metalcore band.

Still Remains - White Walls

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Still Remains is another example of a metalcore band that includes the use of a keyboard. It adds a sort of Soilwork aspect to their music. Their debut Of Love and Lunacy reminded me at times of a Soilwork/In Flames clone, but their follow-up The Serpent is totally different. The keys in the debut were more for atmosphere purposes, however their new disc the keys are much more in the foreground of the music. It really adds a new dimension to the band. Also of note is the vocals. The screams aren't feature as much, but that's not a bad thing because the clean vocals work very well.

Still Remains - The Worst is Yet to Come

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My favorite "new" band has to be As I Lay Dying. I remember seeing the cover for Frail Worlds Collapse with the skulls thinking "Wow this a pretty cool cover, I bet the music is just as good." And ya know what? It wasn't. It was below average death metal/metalcore. The drums were annoying in that St. Anger way. I had no real respect for them at the time. I didn't hate them, but they were like whatever.

As I Lay Dying - Confined

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So I hear this song call Confined that was pretty cool. When I found out it was AILD I was blow away. They had done the classic scream/clean chorus and made it work. Add onto that the production on the album was a notch better. They had more of a thrash feel to some of their songs. They had about 5 solid songs ont hat album for me that really worked. I wasn't saying they were the best, but I knew I had to pay attention to their next album.

As I Lay Dying - The Darkest Nights

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Enter An Ocean Between Us. Wow what an album. They took all the strong parts from Shadows are Security and made them better. Kept the thrash riffs, clean choruses, and improved their song writing. On top of that they seem to have a trilogy of videos going on right now. I am hooked on them and can't really wait to see how they turn out. Two of the videos are posted below.

As I Lay Dying - Nothing Left

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So what does this mean? It means you can have some top notch metalcore music. Metal is meant to be played loud and fast. These bands do that. Too many metalheads focus in on the fact that it isn't Metallica, Slayer, or any 80's metal band and disreguard it right away.

As I Lay Dying - The Sound of Truth

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Playlist for the week:
Tuesday: White Walls, The Wax Walls of an Empty Room by Still Remains from Of Love and Lunacy; The Serpent.
Wednesday: Confined, Through the Darkest Nights, The Truth of My Perception by As I Lay Dying from Shadows are Security.
Thursday: An Ocean Between Us, This is Who We Are by As I Lay Dying from An Ocean Between Us.
Friday: Nothing Left, The Sound of Truth by As I Lay Dying from An Ocean Between Us.