If the genre of metalcore were to be summed up in the performance of one band, that band would be As I Lay Dying. The decisive meshing of heavy metal and hardcore was blindingly apparent Monday evening at the Cruise Inn in Lackawanna.
It would have been even more apparent had Haste and the Black Dahlia Murder been able to make it as scheduled. Haste is an archetypal hardcore band while Black Dahlia Murder serves the same function in metal. However, neither band was able to make it to the Cruise Inn. BDM had kicked their singer out of the band, and Haste had issues with the transmission in their van.
In their place, Oakland-based Totimoshi and local act Dross performed.
Totimoshi is a three-piece band with a minimalist heavy metal sound. This may sound like a contradiction of terms, but think of a metal band playing relevant music that sounds more like Black Sabbath than Arch Enemy or In Flames. The lack of a front man's presence may hurt their stage persona, but certainly not their sound.
What more can be said about Dross than that their singer, Mike Woods, gives the impression that he's the home-school wrestling team's hyperactive 119-pounder warming up for a match, and one of their guitarists is a skin-head with spikes on his guitar strap. Their metallic speed and intensity was occasionally impressive, but nothing was catchy, and nothing was clever.
As I Lay Dying demonstrates the hybrid of metal and hardcore in every way. One guitarist is large and rather muscular (metal) while the other is small and wiry (hardcore). Their sense of fashion is decidedly core, consisting of tight jeans and one-inch buttons. But during the course of their set, there are several points when the sizably-opposite guitarists solo simultaneously and in unison; a metal move if there ever was one.
They began their set with the mp3.com chart-topper and opening track to their latest LP, "Frail Words Collapse." The track, "94 Hours," features a melodic guitar part contrasting beautifully with lead singer Tim Lambesis' ungodly scream. He varies the pitch of his scream often enough to keep the listener interested, something of which Dross' Woods should take note.
Ungodly though their playing may be, God is in fact thanked in their liner notes. Their lyrics consist more of the honest and sincere (perhaps "normal" is the right word) variety. You'll find nothing of burning witches or biblical denunciation in their lyric book, which levelheaded listeners will be thankful for.
As I Lay Dying's quality lyrics and ferocious playing style came to a head as they kicked into "Forever."
Lambesis screamed his lyrics, "We tried so hard to understand and reason/But in that one moment I gave my heart away," as drummer Jordan Mancino played like he was onstage with the most brutal of bands. Both guitarists appeared to be busy trying to keep up with their own riffs, their eyes transfixed on their fret-boards.
They closed with "Collision," though several members of the audience asked for "Elegy," the closing track to "Frail Words Collapse." The band found themselves reluctantly unable to fulfill that request, because they have just acquired a new guitarist and new bassist, who have only learned the songs in their 8-song set list.
However short the set may have been, As I Lay Dying was still a hit at the Cruise Inn, and luckily, Buffalo will have the opportunity to see the band again on Oct. 25 at Infinity with a mess of black metal bands, including Six Feet Under and Behemoth.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
