Review by Rachel Jablonski
“As I Lay Dying… it looks like you’re writing a poem,” she said staring at the notebook on my desk. I had only met her once before, briefly. After a short pause she continued, “Are you suicidal?”
The question caught me off guard and though it was funny, I found myself more annoyed than anything. I had gotten up from my desk for just a moment and came back to her, the lead of the new project I am working on, in my cube writing me a note. Yes, yes lady, I am suicidal. Is that what she wanted to hear? Please! I tried to explain that As I Lay Dying is the name of the band I am listening to and taking notes on. She paid no attention. But I have paid attention to the heavy musical poetry in As I Lay Dying’s Shadows are Security, which displays a heavy, growling fit perfect for distracting from annoyances.
Musically, the fury of the San Diego 5-piece called As I Lay Dying is bound to pacify metal fans. Shadows are Security will contend with any other rising band in the genre. Growling and very heavy, the album leaps into a pounding drum frenzy and doesn’t let up for roughly 40 minutes. Percussion seems to be the dominate force but does not distract from the fluent guitars and brutal screams.
Frequent double bass drum, intense growls, and sharp guitars make “Meaning in Tragedy” an explosive opening track. The song pulses along relentlessly. It is not until the second track, “Confined” that the listener has a moment to catch his/her breath. The melodic chorus of the song is a welcomed variation among the continued musical intensity and quick tempo.
“Losing Sight” maintains the musical theme of the album, but instead of the drums, the most towering portion is the fun guitar part. Two quick notes begin the riff followed by a progression of five single, quickly played notes in interesting, ear pleasing combination. The riff in “The Darkest Nights” is also memorable, pure in sound and rich in dynamism, which greatly accompanies brief vocal melody in the song. Though these riffs are very cool, they occasionally are too concurrent with others on the album. However, diversity shows itself in tracks like “Repeating Yesterday.” The song is very moody, in a pleasant way, beginning very softly and gradually jumping back into heaviness. The finale of the song returns to gentleness as a lovely piano piece ends the track.
But let me not focus completely on the prettiness of the album, which as I have described it could be very misleading. The band is just pure heavy. The heavy musical forces As I Lay Dying seems to possess, which are also pretty in a metal appreciative sense, never let up. The album is a beautiful display of unrelenting ferocity.