As I Lay Dying/Battlecross

What turned into an average Tuesday album release day was made more special as it was Metal Blade Records 30th anniversary. So to commemorate the occasion, As I Lay Dying had a special album release party today in New York City at the Santos Party House for those who pre-ordered “Awakened”.

Starting the night off was fellow Metal Blade artists Battlecross. I've heard they were good but man was I impressed! They played a set consisting mainly of their debut and sophomore albums. Bassist, Don Slater is a monster player and fun watch, finger style is very metal. They all have great stage command and guitarist, Tony Asta has the whitest smile in metal, even in the dark. Awesomely bearded singer, Kyle “Gumby” Gunther has a way with words and even cracked a few jokes at attendee Jose Mangin of Sirius/XM radio. They quickly became my favorite new band of the year. They sealed the deal by tossing out a blast beat flavored Pantera cover of ‘Fucking Hostile’.

As I Lay Dying took the stage about an half an hour later. They exploded into a very strong best of set. Drummer Jordan has a masterful control of windmill headbanging while playing with finesse. No showboating just knows how to make it all work. Tim Lambesis' is a vocal powerhouse as well as a physically imposing frontman. They threw in the new album’s blistering opening track 'Cauterized'. These guys know how to harmonize! Some songs turned into a four headed vocal monster. It’s not over done, they know how to pepper it throughout their songs. Bassist Josh and his vocals just add so much to, Tims' it just sounds so much grander. He kind of makes you want to work out or at least think about it. They closed their with “The Sound Of Truth” and it turned into one big giant sized sing-a-long with the crowd.

After the impressive set Metal Blade mogul Brian Slagel took the stage for a thank you speech about the 30 years of MB he then handed off the mic to That Metal Show hosts, comedians and fellow Metal Blade cohorts, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine who ran a pretty awesome raffle giveaway. Not a bad way to end the night.