As I Lay Dying - Shadows Are Security

GOLD COBALT SHIMMER VINYL The third full-length from this California band finds vocalist Tim Lambesis and drummer Jordan Mancino the only remaining ties to the band that made 2003's Frail Words Collapse. Fans need not worry, though. The new recruits -- guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa and bass player Clint Norris -- have more than meshed with Lambesis and Mancino; they've helped make As I Lay Dying a stronger band. Detractors have often noted the debt these earnest hardcore kids owe to Scandinavian metal and while comparisons to In Flames are still viable here, especially on album opener "Meaning in Tragedy," there are plenty of other elements peppering Lambesis and company's take on metalcore. If anything, Shadows Are Security sounds like a more American record, with songs like "Confined" and "Empty Hearts" bringing a strong thrash element into play, although no one will ever confuse As I Lay Dying with the revivalist neo-thrash of Three Inches of Blood. Elsewhere, there are riff