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Album Review: Jonny and SuperRadMike Take On As I Lay Dying ‘The Powerless Rise’

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So, SuperRadMike and I have decided to take a cue from BurnTheBlueSky and AdamDodd and do a co-op review of the new As I Lay Dying album, ‘The Powerless Rise’. Inside you’ll find TWO reviews where we each state our opinion about the band’s 5th studio release. Leave us some comments to let us know what you think.

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Jonathan Barkan review:
With ‘The Powerless Rise’, As I Lay Dying has put out a solid, thoroughly enjoyable 5th full-length studio release. Fans will get more of what they enjoy and newcomers will find energetic, melodic metalcore with tight playing and solid production.
The production quality is near rock solid on ‘The Powerless Rise’. Apart from the vocals being ever so slightly buried in the mix, everything on the album sounds polished. The guitars are well defined, crunchy and very tight. The guitar tones are also very well chosen as they are big yet not hissy or to full of low end. The bass picks up that end of the spectrum easily, creating a nice, rolling low end. The drums have a tight attack yet still sound big and open. The cymbals could use a little more ‘’sizzle’’ in the high end, but in general they sound very good.
The songs have a frenzied energy that is completely focused. It’s hard to describe but you can almost feel the unbridled intensity that is struggling to go in every direction. As I Lay Dying keep it all in check though and make the sure the energy is controlled and directed as a single unit instead of each instrument going ballistic on it’s own.
Each song is well structured and the transitions within make sense. The melodies that they incorporate are pleasant and give a nice contrast to the intensity but they aren’t exactly original. These are melodies that you have heard before. However, it’s not as if you hear them and sigh in exasperation: It’s almost nostalgic. The melodies are very much in the American metalcore style but you can hear the fingers of Swedish melodic metal creeping in here and there, spreading its influence. 
One last thing to note about these songs is the clever use of panning. Guitars will be soloed hard left or hard right, vocals the same. It makes for an interesting headphone experience, so make sure to listen to the album a few times like that.
Overall, ‘The Powerless Rise’ is a solid album that I definitely enjoyed listening to and will come back to in the future. 
4 out of 5 skulls 
SuperRadMike review:
After 2007’s “An Ocean Between Us” I wondered how As I Lay Dying could top such an awesome album. Well they did. I had my doubts but “The Powerless Rise” is definitely worth your money. 
The biggest change on the album is the direction they went it. They got a lot more aggressive and in general went in a more “death” metal direction. “Beyond Our Suffering” is a fantastic example of this not too mention it is the perfect intro song and you can tell the entire band pushed their limits. “Without Conclusion” is the epitome of a “riffer” song. The song is brutal, fast and has one of the best solos I’ve heard in a long time. 
Songs like “Parallels” and “Condemned” keep the momentum of the album going, almost like not giving you a chance to breathe. “Anger And Apathy” almost sounds like it could be a Dethklok song with the guitar intro and this song might be the slower song of the album but still keeps up with the flow of the album and doesn’t bore you either. The record itself has awesome messages of rising above and getting past your own personal struggle its an awesome message to convey when so much is going wrong in the world and when things like music are in such a slump. 
“The Powerless Rise” is an album that shouldn’t be ignored or looked passed. The guys put a lot of effort into this and kept their sound but made it even better. Like I stated before it’s for sure worth your money and will keep any metal fan happy.  
4.5 out of 5 skulls

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ – John Carpenter Announces New Album & Releases New Music Video!

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Lost Themes IV
(l-r) Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies - Photo Credit: Sophie Gransard

John Carpenter has been teasing big news for a couple weeks now and all has been revealed this morning. Carpenter is back with Lost Themes IV: Noir from Sacred Bones Records!

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

John Carpenter called the first Lost Themes album “a soundtrack for the movies in your mind.”

From John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, Lost Themes IV: Noir is set for release on May 3 via Sacred Bones Records. The album pays tribute to Noir cinema!

In conjunction with the announcement, they’ve shared a music video for the album’s first single, “My Name Is Death”, a miniature noir film directed by Ambar Navarro, starring Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds) and Misha Lindes (SadGirl). “Noir is a uniquely American genre born in post-war cinema,” states Carpenter. “ We grew up loving Noir and were influenced by it for this new album. The video celebrates this style and our new song, My Name is Death.”

Sacred Bones previews, “The scene-setting new single marks new territory for Carpenter and his cohorts, propelled by a driving post-punk bassline that is embellished by washes of atmospheric synth, pulsing drum machine, and, at the song’s climax, a smoldering guitar solo.”

“Sandy [King, John’s wife and producer] had given John a book for Christmas, of pictures from noir films, all stills from that era,” Davies says of the lightbulb moment for Lost Themes IV. “I was looking through it, and I thought, ‘I like that imagery, and what those titles make me think of. What if we loosely based it around that? What if the titles were of some of John’s favorite noir films?’ Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films. But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.”

Sacred Bones notes, “Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes the songs on Lost Themes IV ‘noirish’ is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it.”

“It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that became the initial Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts,” the label explains. “Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. In the years since, Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies have released close to a dozen musical projects, including a growing library of studio albums and the scores for David Gordon Green’s trilogy of Halloween reboots. It helped that they grew up in a musical environment. Daniel’s dad is The Kinks’ Dave Davies, and he would pop by the L.A. studio – the same one the Lost Themes records are made in today – to jam, or to perform at wrap parties for John’s films. That innate free-flowing chemistry helps Lost Themes IV: Noir run like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

Here’s the full Lost Themes IV: Noir track list:

1. My Name is Death
2. Machine Fear
3. Last Rites
4. The Burning Door
5. He Walks By Night
6. Beyond The Gallows
7. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers
8. Guillotine
9. The Demon’s Shadow
10. Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes

The following physical variants will be available:

  • Sacred Bones Exclusive Red on Clear Splatter vinyl w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Sacred Bones Society Exclusive on Black and White Splatter on Clear w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • All retail Transparent Red, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Indie Exclusive Tan and Black Marble, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Rough Trade Exclusive Oxblood Red and Black Splatter, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Shout Exclusive Black and Clear cloudy, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Black LP, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • CD
  • Tape

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now!

Lost Themes IV Noir

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