As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying

It’s hard to believe that a veteran metal band like San Diego’s As I Lay Dying could be just hitting their stride now, some 10 years and five full-lengths into an already stellar career. Still, even after just one listen to the quintet’s latest, The Powerless Rise, you can’t ignore the obvious: One of modern metal’s best just got better.

Similar to their approach on 2007′s Grammy-nominated An Ocean Between Us, the band chose to employ the production prowess of Adam D. and record a majority of the album at singer Tim Lambesis’ own private studio.  The end result is The Powerless Rise; the first true collaborative effort between the current AILD lineup.

Although they didn’t know it at first, the band’s creative potential kicked into overdrive with the introduction of bassist/singer Josh Gilbert in 2007, who played on Ocean but was not involved with the writing.  For the previous two albums, the brunt of the instrumental development was spearheaded by guitarist Phil Sgrosso, whose penchant for melody and riff-conjuring suited the notoriously powerful drum stylings of drummer Jordan Mancino, complimented the lead guitar work of Nick Hipa, and exacted Lambesis’s vision for the bands’ overall intensity. The aforementioned format remained the same on Powerless but with the addition of Gilbert’s musical contribution, added yet another facet to an already established creative dynamic. The result is an album built upon the strength of its parts and the remarkable ways in which those parts become a cohesive whole.

For this current round of lyrics, Lambesis gravitated toward a concept centrally represented in the song “Upside Down Kingdom,” which posits that the suffering of the world stems from the broken, upside-down nature of society. In addition to providing the line that became the album’s title, the song lays out the guiding premise behind many of The Powerless Rise’s ideological excursions—the notion that if we do the opposite of what the modern world tells us, many of the problems this current world causes will no longer exist. Lambesis stresses that rather than fill an album with bitter ranting, he’s attempting to offer a solution with Powerless.

So yes, it may come as a surprise to some that AILD would attain an entirely new level of artistry and urgency with their fifth release Powerless when many others might consider phoning it in, but once you appreciate all the various ingredients essential to the album, it’s no shock at all. By taking the trademark AILD sound then adding a band-wide effort and Lambesis’ novel approach to writing lyrics, the group has truly outdone themselves on The Powerless Rise, at least for now.

MEMBER BAND

Tim Lambesis – @timlambesis – Tim On Tumblr
Member since – Feb. 2001
How I joined the band:
I started it. I wrote a handful of songs and showed them to Jordan to see if he thought it was worth trying to make into a full time band. Back then we didn’t have a guitar player who wrote anything, so I just did it.
Other bands (past and present):
Austrian Death Machine – guitar, drums & vocals
Thieves and Liars (2001 – 2003)
Point of Recognition – guitar (2001 – 2002)
Society’s Finest – guitar (2000 – 2001)
Studio work:
owner of Lambesis Studios
co-producer: As I Lay Dying
engineer & vocal producer: Impending Doom – TBA (2010)
producer: Austrian Death Machine – all albums (2007 – present)
engineer: As I Lay Dying – “This is Who We Are” (2009)
producer: Sworn Enemy – Total World Domination (2009), Maniacal (2008), and The Beginning of the End (2005)
producer: Zao – Awake (2009)
guest vocal: Bleeding Through – Declaration from the album Declaration (2008)
producer: War of Ages – Arise and Conquer (2008)
label representative: Evergreen Terrace – Wolfbiker (2007)
producer: Destroy the Runner – Saints (2006)
label representative: Life in Pictures – By the Sign of the Spyglass (2005)
Favorite Books:
Ecclesiastes
the rest of these books I list because they really get me thinking, and not because I agree with everything written in them…
The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne
The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel
Across the Spectrum, by Gregory A. Boyd
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ronald J. Sider
Top Movies:
Silence of the Lambs
Total Recall / Running Man
Dead Poets Society
Dumb & Dumber
Top TV Shows:
House M.D.
Lost
Lie To Me
Grey’s Anatomy
Gear & endorsements:
In studio I find Krank guitar heads to work great even though the can be easy to mess up if setup wrong. Vocally, I sing through Neumann (studio & live) or Sennheiser (live). The Sennheiser 421 is also pretty beefy sounding on guitar.
Where you can take me to dinner:
Thai food, Mexican food, or Sushi (even though I hate all other types of fish for some reason)

Jordan Mancino – @jordansapproach
Member since – Feb. 2001
How I joined the band:
Tim, who I had known through the local metal/hardcore scene in San Diego, gave me a call one day and asked if I was interested in starting a metal band with him. My other band had broken up not too long before that and the punk band I was filling in for wasn’t too busy, so I said I was definitely interested; especially if we were going to be playing and writing metal. Tim, Evan, Jon (the original bass player), Jeremy (the original second guitar player) and I met up a few days later to introduce ourselves and talk a little about what direction we wanted to go. Not too long after that we started jamming and a few months later we recorded Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes then hit the road. The rest of this story can be found in our DVD!
Other musical endeavors (past and present):
(1998 – 2001) – Edge of Mortality (metal)
(2001) – One Foot Forward (punk)
(2001 – 2003) – Thieves and Liars (rock and roll)
(2001 – 2002) – Point of Recognition (hardcore)
(2006) – Drum Nation Vol. 3 – “Ahh.. The Fade Out” (instrumental)
(2007) – Sworn Enemy recording session for “Maniacal” (metal/hardcore)
(2009) – Souls of We – fill in live drummer (rock)
Favorite Books:
The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas A Kempis
The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
Psychological Nudity, by Michael Savage
Love Your God With All Your Mind, by J.P. Moreland
Top DVD’s:
The Godfather Trilogy
Indiana Jones
What About Bob?
Caddyshack
Ghostbusters
Nell
Les Miserables
National Lampoon’s – Christmas Vacation
Gear:
DW drums and hardware
Zildjian cymbals
Promark drum sticks
Ultimate Ears – in-ear monitors
Remo drum heads
Audix microphones
Shure microphones
Sennheiser microphones
Anvil and Calzone road-cases
Clothing:
Heroine Clothing
Cardboard Robot
Vans
Jedidiah Clothing
Ayer Clothing
Rokk Clothing
Royal Elastic’s Footwear
Where you can take me to dinner:
Carmella Cucina Italiana in San Marcos, CA
Casa de Bandini in La Costa, CA
Downtown Deli in Escondido, CA
Santanas in San Marcos, CA
Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in Escondido, CA
In and Out Burger in San Marcos, CA
My arch nemesis:
THE SPLASH CYMBAL!!
Hobbies:
Golf
Home Improvement (building, cleaning, organizing my home and my friend’s and family’s homes)
College – reading loads of text books and writing boring essay’s
Loathing Cats
Watching the History Channel, HGTV, and Tosh.0
Spending time with family and friends
Goals in Life:
break 70
have dinner with Bill Murray
ask Jodie Foster what it was like to film Nell
continue to play drums
stop the reproduction of felis catus (domestic cats)
get my masters degree

Nick Hipa – @yesTHEnickhipa
Member since – Feb. 2001
How I joined the band:
I couldn’t explain this any better than how it is verbally and visually presented in our DVD This Is Who We Are.
Other musical endeavors (past and present):
The only other band I’ve been in that actually did something was Evelynn (’01-’03). Presently I’d rather be about other musical endeavors then talk about them.
Favorite Books: My favorite writers are E.E. Cummings, Charles Dickens, Chuck Palahniuk (earlier books only), Chuck Klosterman, George Saunders, and Ernest Hemingway. Pick any book by them and you should be happy.
Top DVD’s:
Jesus Christ Superstar, The Last Dragon, The Warriors, The entire Wes Anderson Collection, and The entire Quentin Tarantino Collection.
Gear & endorsements:
Ibanez Guitars (ART’s and Destroyers), Seymour Duncan Blackout Pickups, DR Strings, In Tune Guitar Picks, Peavey 6505+ Heads, Maxon Pedals (OD 808 Overdrive/OD909 Delay), Celestion Vintage 30 Speakers, Misc. Line 6, Dunlop, and MXR pedals
Where you can take me to eat:
Rico’s Taco Shop, Swami’s Cafe, Naked Cafe, Honey’s Cafe, Happy Chang’s Best of Thai, Hillstreet Cafe, Pizza Port, Santana’s
My arch nemesis:
Cilantro
Guitarists whom I’ve been inspired by: Randy Rhoads, David Gilmour, Darrell Lance Abbott, John Frusciante, Warren DeMartini, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, George Lynch, Kim Thayil, and a majority of the Swedes.
Favorite Quotes: “Don’t sweat the small stuff” – Samuel Vincent Kilaukea Hipa II, “Never stop aspiring” -James Rodney Murphy, “Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing” -Aristotle, “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Phil Sgrosso – @SGROZ
Member since – October 2003
How I joined the band: Played in local SD band, Tomra. Played a few shows with AILD and when they needed a guitar player, I was available.
Other musical endeavors (past and present): Tomra (2002-2003), several other projects in the works at the moment
Favorite Books: The Man Comes Around, Born Standing Up
Top DVD’s: Point Break, Blood In Blood Out, Batman Begins, Pulp Fiction, Terminator 2, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter
Gear & endorsements: PRS, EVH, DR STRINGS, LINE 6, EMG, MAXON
Where you can take me to dinner: SUSHI, MEXICAN, OR THAI FOOD
My arch nemesis: BRIGHT EYES
Favorite Muscicians: DAVID GILMOUR, MATTHEW BELLAMY, DANIEL JOHNS, THOM YORKE
Favorite Beers: New Belgium 2 Degrees Below Winter Ale, Stone 9th Anniversary Ale, Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse

Josh Gilbert – @Josh_Gilbert
Member since – December 2006
How I Joined the band:
My old band broke up, and I was contacted about trying out along with about 15 other people, if I remember. After 2 days of extremely uncomfortable rehearsal, and a 2 week “tryout” tour, I made the 32 hour trek from Birmingham ,AL to record on An Ocean Between Us.
Other Musical Endeavors:
This Endearing, Austrian Death Machine, Kaoss KomplexXxion, Year One, and Junkbunk.
Favorite DVD’s:
Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, LOST, Arrested Development, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, INDEPENDENCE DAY
Gear:
Ibanez Ergodyne Custom Basses, Eden WT-800 Heads, Eden Cabs, MXR Pedals, Dunlop Accesories, DR Strings, Line 6 Wirelesses, Avalon U5 D.I. Box, In Tune picks, Planet Waves cables and accessories.
Where you can take me to dinner:
Santana’s Mexican Grill, Harney’s Sushi, Dreamland BBQ
My arch nemesis:
Anyone who talks/asks questions aloud throughout an entire movie/tv show that I’m investing my time to watch.
Favorite Overall Album of all-time: Deftones- White Pony
Favorite Old Spice Shower Gel Scent: Tie between “Swagger” and “After Hours”