The Powerless Rise

The Powerless Rise is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band As I Lay Dying. The album was released on May 7, 2010 in Europe, and on May 11, 2010 in the United States.^[5] The Powerless Rise debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 38,000.^[6] The album features three singles: "Beyond Our Suffering", "Parallels", and "Anodyne Sea", with music videos being released for all three.

The Powerless Rise
Studio album by As I Lay Dying
Released	May 7, 2010 (2010-05-07)
Recorded	October 2009 – February 2010
Studio	Lambesis Studio, San Diego, CA
Genre	Melodic metalcore[1] thrash metal[2]
Length	44:08
Label	Metal Blade
Producer	Adam Dutkiewicz, As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying chronology
This Is Who We Are (2009) The Powerless Rise (2010) Decas (2011)
Singles from The Powerless Rise
"Beyond Our Suffering" Released: April 5, 2010[3] "Parallels" Released: April 28, 2010[4] "Anodyne Sea" Released: January 19, 2011

Background

As I Lay Dying began writing songs for The Powerless Rise in mid-2009 following two years of touring for the band's 2007 album An Ocean Between Us.^[7] In early September the band shared that they had "been home hard at work writing new songs for an album that will be out in early-2010."^[8] By the end of September, the group had finished "about 6-7" songs and was scheduled to enter the studio on October 17, 2009 where they would continue to write new songs.^[9][10] This is in contrast to previous albums by As I Lay Dying that had been written over the course of only a few months.^[9][11] The three years between the release of An Ocean Between Us and The Powerless Rise previously was the largest gap between releases from the band at that time. Frontman Tim Lambesis stated that while some bands "need to rush out a crappy record so they can start touring again to pay their bills," As I Lay Dying had been working hard to "make a record worth listening to (hopefully), and start touring again when we're done."^[12][13]

The band officially announced the title of the album in February of 2010.^[14] In March of 2010, the album artwork for the record, again provided by Jacob Bannon, was shared by MetalBlade Records.^[15][16]

The band presented the album in a number of different pre-order bundles, including a CD plus an autographed booklet and a t-shirt, and also a deluxe fan box which allowed fans to receive the album prior to its official release.^[17][18]

On April 8 the band played the song "Beyond Our Suffering" live for the first time, at the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods Music Awards.^[19]

On May 7 the band made the entirety of the album temporarily available for streaming on their MySpace profile.^[20]

Several music videos were produced for songs on the album. The band debuted a video for the track "Parallels" July 11, 2010.^[21] The video was directed by Dave Brodsky.^[21] A music video for the song "Anodyne Sea," directed by Ian McFarland and Mike Pecci, was released in January of 2011.^[22][23][24] A live music video for the track "Beyond Our Suffering" was released in May 2011.^[25] The video was filmed by the band's friend Joe Hamming on July 14, 2010 in Orlando, Florida while the band was on the "Cool Tour."^[25]

The Powerless Rise was produced by Killswitch Engage lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and Daniel Castelman, and was mixed by Colin Richardson and Martyn Ford.^[13][26] Adam Dutkiewicz also produced As I Lay Dying's An Ocean Between Us. According to guitarist Phil Sgrosso, Dutkiewicz was chosen over ten other producers the band had talked with after "realizing that Adam understands our sound better than most."^[27] Castelman and Richardson were also audio engineers on An Ocean Between Us.

The album's first single "Beyond Our Suffering" was made available for fans to play and download for free in the game "Tap Tap Revenge 3."^[28]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[29]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[30]
AbsolutePunk	88%[31]
Allmusic	[32]
Blabbermouth.net	[33]
Cross Rhythms	[34]
Exclaim!	"most accomplished record yet"[35]
Jesus Freak Hideout	[36]
PopMatters	[37]
Rock Sound	[38]
Sputnikmusic	[39]

The Powerless Rise was released in May 2010 to generally positive acclaim. It currently holds "universal acclaim" status for generally good reviews on Metacritic with an 81 out of 100.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Tim Lambesis; all music is composed by As I Lay Dying.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beyond Our Suffering"	2:50
2.	"Anodyne Sea"	4:35
3.	"Without Conclusion"	3:15
4.	"Parallels"	4:57
5.	"The Plague"	3:42
6.	"Anger and Apathy"	4:26
7.	"Condemned"	2:50
8.	"Upside Down Kingdom"	4:00
9.	"Vacancy"	4:27
10.	"The Only Constant Is Change"	4:08
11.	"The Blinding of False Light"	5:05
Total length:		44:08

iTunes bonus track^[40]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Condemned" (Gunfight Mix [Pre-Order Only])	3:56

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

As I Lay Dying^[41]

• Tim Lambesis – harsh vocals
• Nick Hipa – guitar, backing vocals
• Phil Sgrosso – guitar, backing vocals
• Josh Gilbert – bass, sung vocals
• Jordan Mancino – drums

Production

• Adam Dutkiewicz – production, engineering
• Daniel Castleman – engineering, pre-production
• Joseph McQueen – vocal engineering
• Colin Richardson – mixing
• Martyn "Ginge" Ford – mix engineering
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Kelly Cairns – pre-production
• Joey St. Lucas – guitar tech
• Mike Catalano – drum tech, additional percussion
• Jacob Bannon – artwork, design

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[42]	53
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[43]	21
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[44]	11
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[45]	22
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[46]	69
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47]	39
UK Albums (OCC)[48]	172
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[49]	19
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[50]	14
US Billboard 200[51]	10
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[52]	5
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[53]	2
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[54]	3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[55]	5
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[56]	5