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LIVE REVIEWS

As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Haste the Day and Through the Eyes of the Dead at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA.

Ahhh, hump day, perfect day to go see a metal show. What better day to see a metal show by none other than As I Lay Dying, who in part, in my opinion, has one of the best metal albums to come out this year. Their latest release is a blistering, unnapologetic and brash record that shows the bands versatility and growth even more from their last one. Needless to say, I was real excited to see the show.

My associate and I, whom which double times as an employee for Coffin Case, were already set to go, thanks to Metal Blade, and in an odd coincidence, he had to give AILD some new cases for their gear so it was perfect. We were really set to go to this show.....and then I get this call from my wife. Our boy cat just went missing. Great.

Alright for all of you aholes that don't understand the love between a man and his pets, well, guess you just don't understand. Anyhow, my boy cat has been with my wife and I for quite some time and he is our little boy so I was pretty stressed and freaked out when I got the call. I worried like crazy. I went back home and found out that my wife had found him and boy was that a reliever! I'd be damned if I lost my cat, someone would have to pay or get their ass kicked for I would've been in flames!

Back to the review.....By the time we get down to the show and do all the formalities of getting in and figuring out where to bring these cases and to who, we already missed the first two bands. I'm not sure if I missed anything though since none of my compadres that was there already said anything about it. We got to meet a few guys from AILD and thier crew though when we dropped off the cases, few beers, mingle mingle so I guess it wasn't a total loss missing the first two bands. In fact, there was no mention at all about their performance from anyone I met or knew so I guess I really didn't miss anything. Hopefully not.

On to the stage. My associate and I quickly planted ourselves on stage right and awaited ATR to hit the stage. I gave Phil from ATR a little "Kick some ass" handshake and then off he went. This is going to be the fourth time I'm going to see ATR and they have yet to dissapoint me so maybe this would be the night they do. Nope. Full on ass kicking. ATR thre it down and they sounded well oiled and tight. Phil's vocals was commanding as always and the guitars and bass were shredding it up while the drummer was churning out some hardcore drumming behind his kit. Stand out tracks for these guys were, "Not Alone," "This Calling," "Become the Catalyst," and "Air I Breathe." Those were the tracks where the band really came together and just gave it to the crowd. As always, ATR's stage presence was awesome and the sound was even better. All in all, they gave it their all and they kicked some major ass. If you haven't seen ATR live, you should, they don't mess around.

After a brief beer break and set change, AILD was ready to hit the stage. The dudes from AILD are nice guys and are definitely humble. They weren't some other rockstars that I've met where they act like they're above everyone, these dudes were just them, which is the way other people should be, go figure.

AILD then hit the stage and wasted no time getting the message across. "Nothing Left" was the first song and it just ignited the Wiltern. By the third song, "Forever," the crowd was in full swing. A circle pit broke out and the amass of bodies being thrown around is always a spectacle to me cause I know people were getting hurt in there. Tim, singer of AILD was a monstrous figure onstage. Tall and authorative, he kept the crowd pumped the whole night and man can this guy bellow it out! He sounded possessed most of the time! Tim also encouraged the crowd for circle pits all night long and the crowd responded, all ngiht long as well. Jordan, the drummer, was way impressive and he had some furious power behind the kit, I felt sorry for the fuckin' thing. It felt like drumming 101 and he was the teacher. It was great! Both guitars and bass were also tearing it up especially when Nick went into his leads. I noticed that on the newest album, Nick plays a hell lot more leads and he really showcased his talent on the shredding area. Well last night was no different, he shredded his little heart out and killed it. Good job! The best tracks for the night for me were "A Thousand Steps," "Within Destruction," "Forsaken," "Comfort Betrays," "Through Struggle," and "I Never Wanted." Through it all, these guys never lost energy and tehy were pumping it out like it was their last show on earth. I was real impressed by their stage presence and how they commanded the stage, they're real pros. The last song of the night was "Confined." By the end of their set, I was more convinced now, more than ever, that AILD is one of the best metal outfits ever.

By: Gian Erguiza