Metalcore is a genre very criticized by pretty much everyone who’s into some other type of metal. Many believe that its just music for Hot Topic kids or posers. Now, most detractors don’t look beyond the surface of the genre and so we have crap like Avenged Sevenfold called “heavy metal”. There are bands that actually have lots of good things going on for them and As I Lay Dying are no exception to this. Their new album “An Ocean Between Us” is a juggernaut of a record that stands alongside the genres defining albums like Trivium’s “Ascendancy” and Killswitch Engage’s “The End of Heartache”.

This band has taken its fair share of criticism because of their roots, and believes they hold. Much of that criticism will probably be put to rest after people listen to “An Ocean Between Us”. Instead of writing an album that follows the typical metalcore trend that most bands follow (i.e. every album sounds like the one before it), As I Lay Dying has written an album full of every element present in their last album “Shadows Are Security”; but the trademark that separates this guys from the rest of the metalcore scene is their ability to fuse so many elements in a genre that can be very repetitious at times. The album has different things to please everyone; intense in-your-face vocals, bass lines that raise the hair in the back of your neck, great melodies that seep through a musical chaos and guitar riffs that vary from some great hardcore chugging like the title track or some more thrashing riffs present in songs like “Within Destruction” and “Comfort Betrays”; and yes, they can also play some serious guitar solos that demand your attention. On the rhythm department, drummer Jordan Mancino is a master of blast beats, insanely fast double-bass patterns and some great drum fills that tie up the different directions the band takes.

“An Ocean Between Us” is a great album and definitely one of the best metalcore albums ever, but I wouldn’t categorize this band that much because in all honesty, it’s not just a great metalcore album, it’s a great METAL album.