Photo: Luis Blanco/Wikimedia Commons
It’s been six years since As I Lay Dying released any new music … as a result of singer Tim Lambesis’ actions five years ago. But after posting a teaser video this past weekend, Lambesis appears to be fulfilling a promise he made shortly after his release from prison last year. It remains unclear whether Lambesis is reforming As I Lay Dying with new members or if the classic lineup is getting back together (though it appears to be the latter). Regardless of what As I Lay Dying will look like in 2018, we can’t help but ask …
Should As I Lay Dying return from the dead at all? Does the band have any chance at redemption following Lambesis’ actions? Should the band even get a chance at redemption?
Zach Shaw: My initial thought: there is no way ANYONE would embrace a reunited As I Lay Dying with open arms. It seems nearly impossible for Lambesis and As I Lay Dying to make a comeback following the damage his actions did to everyone around him (let alone to the legacy of the band).
BUT much to my surprise, more than 5,600 people have indicated in Metal Injection’s poll that they are still a fan and are looking forward to new music from AILD. That’s about 80% of the people who voted. So maybe there is a chance that the band could take back their metalcore crown despite everything that happened.
And yet I still feel really uncomfortable with the idea of As I Lay Dying returning. I’m not one to say that no one ever deserves a second chance, and I guess its nice that Lambesis and some of his members have reconciled. But I guess I just remember too vividly the exhaustive media coverage surrounding Lambesis’ actions and court hearings. No matter what AILD does, I simply won’t be able to forget the fact that what Lambesis did was downright horrific and inexcusable.
Bram: As I Lay Dying coming back – what a time to be alive! It’s really weird how quickly time passes. Five years ago we all thought we were done ever hearing about Tim Lambesis playing music again. Or at the very least, we could prepare ourselves for another round of beating a dead Schwarz (enegger). However, nostalgia is a weird thing, and AILD had a massive amount of fans that were legitimately bummed when he was carted off to jail.
What a roided-up Lambesis did back in the early part of the decade is inexcusable. However, he only plotted to do this, and there’s a big difference between an attempt and the completion, even though both are awful. It’ll take one hell of an apology tour, and many will never forgive him. However, if he’s humble and willing to suck it up for being an addict, there are enough people that might want to give him a second chance if the tunes are good enough. Even if the band lose 80% of their fans, that’d still mean they have 400,000 Facebook fans, or more than 50,000 that would potentially buy an album from a reunited AILD. Wovenwar was a pretty solid band, but no one’s begging for new music from them.
Hell, they should reunite just for the comments sections on sites like this one and Metal Sucks? Internet memes have gotten so much better in the past five years! Seriously, they have a hook, and it’s a morbid/dark one, but who wouldn’t want to hear and see what a reformed steroid abuser that’s done jail time looked and sounded like?
Matt: Lambesis and company would really have to bring it in order for something like this to pay off. Sure, they have diehard fans who would be happy just to see them together again, but that’s not who Lambesis has to prove himself to. He has to prove himself to the skeptics, the disappointed fans, the people who wrote him off as over and done. Impossible? No. Others have made a comeback from worse. Difficult? Absolutely. Having the classic lineup back would definitely tip things in Lambesis’ favor as many will take it as an indication from the other members that he’s given them reason to think reforming the band could work.
