Shadows Are Security - Dark Publications

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Customer Reviews: Read 154 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Some damn good metal July 27, 2005
18 out of 30 found this review helpful

I had heard these guys' previous album and thought it was okay, but it didn't leave any lasting impression on me. But when their name popped up on Yahoo's homepage as an Entertainment feature, I was surprised to see such a name there and thought I'd give them a shot. I watched the video to "Confined" and it was excellent. Nothing groundbreaking, but very well-done metalcore with extremely tight, rhythmic riffs backed by precise double-bass drumming.

For the guy who recommended Dark Tranquillity instead... Dark Tranquillity is excellent at melodies, but if you care about grooves, As I Lay Dying easily takes the upper hand in that department. (And I do love Dark Tranquillity, for the record.) Get this disc and "The Mind's I" by DT, and you'll have the best of both worlds. For some middle ground of those two styles, try In Flames - "The Jester Race". Trust me.

2 out of 5 stars

Nothing special August 9, 2005
14 out of 35 found this review helpful

With all the hype surrounding As I Lay Dying and their most recent release "Shadows Are Security", I had to check them out. And just like Atreyu, Trivium, and many of the other countless bands to emerge in the recent "metal-core" wave, As I Lay Dying is far from being anything special, and once you've heard it, the feeling of "I've heard this before and heard it done better" will be plenty apparent. The drumming and vocals are decent enough, but everything else sounds generic: from the riffs to the breakdowns (why does every new band have to play breakdown after breakdown?), and the lyrics themselves are mind grating. Now don't get me wrong, I like to keep an open mind, but Christian-esque lyrics and metal music don't meld together. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a positive message in a musical genre looked down upon for "devil worship", but this is enough. The guys definitely got the talent to be something special, but they fail in the delivery and come off as just another modern day metal act that are here today, and will be gone a few years later (remember Korn and Limp Bizkit?). If you want to listen to some great and real metal, check out Strapping Young Lad, Nile, Kreator, Morbid Angel, and especially old In Flames, and leave this disc in the dust.

5 out of 5 stars

Amazing June 17, 2005
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

All you crybabies whining about these guys being christian metal should....you know...STFU! These guys have an awesome sound, with some solid guitar work and this CD is just all around bad ass. Shutting a band off because they're christian is ignorance in it's worst form. I listen to everything, from Immolation to Immortal and Deicide. Heck, I'm not even religious at all, but being open minded allows me to take in fantastic music like this. P.S. Not listening to a band because they're christian doesn't make you look cool, in fact in makes you look like a closed minded imbecile. Good day.

4 out of 5 stars

(3.5 stars) Pretty good stuff October 10, 2005
11 out of 16 found this review helpful

It's understandable that some people would say this album is "nothing special," because one of the first things you'll notice when you put this disc in is that you've heard the vocals before (on a number of records by other bands). As I Lay Dying do lack a substantial amount of innovation; they could use some melody or some more clean vocals and guitar solos--something to help them stand out more.

With that said, this is pretty good metalcore. "Shadows Are Security" has enough good, heavy guitar riffs, fast double bass work, bruising rhythms, hooks, all-around energy, and good songs to make up for the sometimes generic sound and "I've heard these before" vocals.

With chugging guitars, a pounding rhythm, and some guttural bellows, tracks one and six ("Meaning In Tragedy" and "Reflection") are fairly typical tracks. And track four, "The Darkest Nights," isn't anything special or memorable, either. But songs like "Confined" (which has bursts of fast double kick drums), and "Losing Sight" just sound downright awesome. Other standout tracks include "Empty Hearts," which has an almost thunderous rhythm and the album's first of two guitar solos, the scorching guitar work and clean backing vocals on track eight, "Through Struggle," and "The Truth of My Perception," which has a nice guitar and drum give-and-take.

If you're a metalcore fan or a fan of As I Lay Dying, I don't know why you're even reading this review because you probably already own or are going to buy this album, anyways. But to the rest of you--the casual fans--let me say this: "Shadows Are Security" is a good, enjoyable listen, and it's worth checking out--but there's better metalcore out there. This C.D. is really not worth owning if you already listen to bands like Trivium, Atreyu, Chimaira, etc.

1 out of 5 stars

You're joking, right? September 1, 2005
10 out of 14 found this review helpful

Take a listen to the sound samples and tell me any two of those sound at all different. It's the same damn manic panic drum beat set against the same solid state wasp-in-a-jar buzzsaw guitar with the same four-year-old-in-a-grocery-store screaming on all 12 tracks of this godawful mess of an album.

What's more, even if I were a mutant, I wouldn't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of bands that sound exactly like As I Lay Dying that will be completely forgotten and laughed about in five years in the same way that people laugh about Whitesnake and Poison today.

If you're into this, go to the source -- the band In Flames -- for actual MUSIC and wake up to how gullible you've been for listening to tardcore all this time. Oh and by the way: you're not helpful either.

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