AS I LAY DYING & WHITECHAPEL ON BILLBOARD TOP 200 ALBUM CHART!
As taken from the Metal Blade Records News Update from June 25, 2010:
“Metal Blade Records, still home to two titles on the Billboard Top 200 Chart! Los Angeles based metal label Metal Blade Records is currently home to two of the year’s heaviest titles to break this week’s Billboard Top 200 Chart. Knoxville Tennessee’s WHITECHAPEL spent their second week on the Billboard Top 200 at #153 with the band’s highly anticipated album A New Era of Corruption and San Diego California’s Grammy nominated group AS I LAY DYING is now spending their SIXTH week in the Top 200 Chart, landing the #137 position. Metal Blade Records would like to congratulate both bands for this remarkable achievement and thank them for their dedication and all their hard work in creating the best albums of their career’s to date”.
Metal Odyssey would also like to congratulate As I lay Dying and Whitechapel as well… it is a great feeling when two Extreme Metal Bands make some F’n noise in the mainstream album charts! With my loyal leanings towards the Heavier and Extreme side of Metal, I cannot hold back the Metal appreciation I have for these two bands cracking into a world wide known and accepted album chart like Billboard.
* For more Metal info on As I Lay Dying, click the links below:
http://www.ThePowerlessRise.com
http://www.myspace.com/asilaydying
* For more Metal info on WHITECHAPEL, click the links below:
http://www.aneweraofcorruption.com
http://www.myspace.com/whitechapel
http:/www.facebook.com/whitechapelmetal
* For more Metal Blade Records info, click the links below:
AS I LAY DYING – THE POWERLESS RISE:
* Check out the music video for As I Lay Dying – Parallels, a speed burning and Metal furious song taken from The Powerless Rise album. Just click on that cool box below!
WHITECHAPEL – NEW ERA OF CORRUPTION:
LONG LIVE METAL!
Stone.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
June 29, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I do like the slow more mainstream “metal” in AS I LAY DYING’s music and esp. “Parallels” video above.
I watched a concert DVD the other day at a buddies house and I was impressed with the drummer + the faster stuff but after a while it was all samey and seemed very formulaic. There were a few choice “catchy” moments that got my attention in several songs though.
These kids certainly have chops but the cookie-cutter arrangements get tiring to me. Esp. the verse, chorus, scream, pretty background chorus + harmonies etc. etc. That makes my “B.S. Metal Detector” go off every time.
I am not a super big Metalcore fan (or any of it’s similarities) but I do like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in doses; and all these “newer” bands just sound like them to me for some reason. It appears they are leaders in that micro genre to me….maybe they (AS I LAY DYING) came up at the same time and it’s the opposite? Not sure…
How this broke into the charts I will never know, but I am not a hater – so yeah hats off to them for achieving that and I do wish them well.
*Could it be due to their Christian faith?
I am not sure if they are “playing” their Christian band playing card or not (like some bands do to break into the charts and or the Christian mainstream). I haven’t read any of their lyrics and I cannot understand hardly any words the singer is saying “singing” anyway. ha ha…
If more conservative and or very strict Christian parents let their kids listen to this band for their message then I can understand the charting as this might be a first (not sure) for this HEAVY of a band and I can see a HUGE “untapped” market for this.
Will have to check out WHITE CHAPEL later…boy had Metal Blade Records sure changed through the years!
Kinger
Demolish HQ
June 29, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Lead vocalist Tim Lambesis is also the “Metal Mastermind” behind Austrian Death Machine. Killswitch Engage debuted with their self titled album in July of 2000, while As I Lay Dying debuted in June of 2001 with “Beneath the Encasing of Ashes”. Tim Lambesis has his strong following with Austrian Death Machine, coupled with As I Lay Dying having obviously their own strong following of fans.
You could have a valid point regarding their being a Christian band equating to more album sales. Still… it would be difficult to quantify? From the interviews I have read and/or seen of Tim Lambesis, he is quite the approachable guy too… in my Metal opinion. I wouldn’t pass up a Metal chance to interview him myself! 😉
Yes… the Metalcore “Movement” may have come well after “our” Old School heyday, only I really do embrace As I Lay Dying as one real-deal & credible Metal Band from this genre.
In Metal –
Stone
June 29, 2010 at 4:42 pm
I like that band name: Austrian Death Machine.
has a certain “ring” to it.
I think my comments about AS I LAY DYING are pretty much in general across the entire “Metalcore” spectrum.
Other than the moments when my “BS Metal detector” is not going off, I really like it.
Thrash Til’ Death,
Kinger
June 29, 2010 at 8:23 pm
The whole Austrian Death Machine project is legit Metal… only with a (gasp) “fun” spin on it… courtesy of the lyrics and Ahnold.
Stone Thrashin’ um… uh, yeah.