Why The Hate?: As I Lay Dying
During the rise of the 2000’s metalcore scene, acts like Killswitch Engage, Converge, Overcast, Avenged Sevenfold thrived in the days of the genre’s rising popularity. Another one of those acts was As I Lay Dying. Formed in 2000, the band’s constant touring and word-of-mouth truly began to grow the band’s popularity and starting to establish themselves in the California metal scene. With the success of the band’s second album Frail Words Collapse and it’s follow-up Shadows are Security, the band truly broke out and began to perform in front of thousands of people at huge festivals like Wacken Open Air and Warped Tour.
The band’s frontman, Tim Lambesis, has become a beacon of controversy in more recent years with some of his actions outside of the band that has become to affect not only his image, but tarnishing the band’s legacy and impact as well as influence. Causing countless members to leave the project due to Lambesis’ actions, leaving him to be the only original member of the band left. But is he the main reason for the hate towards the band? Is is the music? The message? Today, I’m going to look into the band's music, the action of their frontman, and the current state of the band in this month’s edition of Why The Hate?
FIRST TOPIC: The Music
As I Lay Dying released their debut album Beneath The Encasing of Ashes in 2001 on Pluto Records. With a rougher production, the album received positive response from critics and fans. Drawing comparisons to fellow metalcore act Zao in sound, musical arrangement and production along with lyrical themes. Songs like “Torn Within” and “A Breath in The Eyes of Eternity” have moments and trademarks of the burgeoning metalcore scene that was about to erupt, but has this dark and sinister tone laying underneath. Lambesis would say that album closer “Behind Me Lies Another Fallen Soldier” is his favorite As I Lay Dying song. After touring in support of the debut, along with a split with American Tragedy, the band would hit the studio to record their second album.
In 2003, the band released Frail Words Collapse, their debut on their new label home Metal Blade Records. Peaking at number thirty on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart and number forty-one on Top Heatseekers chart, the band’s popularity skyrocketed following the release of the album. Songs like album opener “94 Hours” and potentially the band’s most well-known song “Forever” helped catapult the band amongst the top leaders in the rising 2000’s metalcore scene amongst fellow acts like Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. With the band taking the tropes of metalcore, but continuing some of the melodic death metal origins of acts like At The Gates with this album. As many fans cited this as the “heavier side of metalcore” since Lambesis only growled and didn’t do clean vocals unlike his peers. Following the breakout success of their second album, the band would tour along some heavy hitters of metalcore and melodic death metal like The Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames & Himsa.
The band would release their third album Shadows are Security in 2005. Lambesis stated with this album that the band had more time to work on the release compared to Frail Words Collapse. He would praise the guitar work of new band member Nick Hipa and the drumming of Jordan Mancino during the writing of the record. With lead single “Confined” continuing some of the melodic death metal worship that metalcore had become known-for, the song started out with such a chugging and brutal opening riff. And the clean vocals of Clint Norris on the chorus was mixed and blended perfectly on the track compared to the pissed-off delivery of Lambesis. Songs like “The Darkest Nights” continued the same vocal theme of clean vocals on the chorus that became a stereotype of the genre. While songs like “Through Struggle” & “Empty Hearts” have such nasty and stank-face inducing opening riffs into pummeling breakdown sections.
An Ocean Between Us, the band’s fourth album, brought more melody to the band’s metalcore/melo death hybrid delivery. With their Grammy-nominated single “Nothing Left”, with a much sleeker production and headbob-inducing double bass, the riff carried some of the melodic death metal presence famous by the Gothenburg sound of acts like In Flames & Arch Enemy. Produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, his production style and understanding of the band’s sound, helped him perfect and fine-tune the exact tone and power that the band wanted to deliver on this record. The album’s title track and “Forsaken” really demonstrate the band’s experimentation with more melody in their sound, while “Within Destruction” and “Comfort Betrays” continue the sheer bombardment of heaviness the band delivered on their first two albums.
The Powerful Rise was their next album. Standout track “The Plague of A Conscience” and “Beyond Our Suffering” were tracks that captivated fans and were highlighted as some of the album’s best songs. Though many die-hard fans would claim the record might have been a too polished in the production and the lyrics becoming a bit drab and repetitive. Awakened would continue the same musical direction, receiving similar comparisons to the last two albums, but critiques of not bringing anything new to the table. As fans were at the point of wanting more and new ideas and influences.
2019’s Shaped By Fire gave the fans what they wanted. With the album having five singles, songs like “Blinded” captivated fans. The album truly was a smash and a resurgence for the band since this was the first release from the band since Lambesis’ incarceration and release. Critics praised the musical performance of guitarists Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso. Cited as the band rising like a phoenix from the press and actions of Lambesis, it brought back the nostalgia of the early 2000’s and bringing the band’s popularity back to the forefront of the scene.
The band’s more recent album, 2024’s Through Storms Ahead, unfortunately showed that the band’s flame burned a little dimmer after it came out. Though embracing a lot of the new and upcoming acts like Taylor Barber of Left To Suffer and Alex Terrible of Slaughter To Prevail with guest appearances, it couldn’t save the fan’s response to the album. Critics and fans cited this as potentially the band’s worst album. And after listening to this album again, it truly doesn’t have that same “oomph” and makes me miss the golden-era of the band.
Musically, does the band deserve the hate? Not in my opinion they do not. The band’s metalcore/melodic death metal fusion is still a heavy sound and with the band’s early albums truly embodying the peak-era of the rise of metalcore. Granted, there are some moments in the band’s music that does come off a bit formulaic, and with their influence of more melody into their sound became a bit divisive who just want growls and no cleans. Though with peaks and valleys in their discography, As I Lay Dying’s music does scratch that itch if you want classic hit of nostalgia and enjoying the true origins of the metalcore sound before the genre began to become formulaic and leaning more towards the Octane-core sound that would become popular by acts like Architects and Parkway Drive. I even sometimes like his side project, Austrian Death Machine, more than As I Lay Dying. Which not only brings some true heaviness, but also will make you laugh with all the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie references, themes and impressions.
SECOND TOPIC: The Band
The main controversy towards the band has come from Lambesis. The first moment that officially hurt his image was in May 2013 when he was arrested for soliciting an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. Per court records, Lambesis approached a man at the gym, asking if knew anyone who would kill his wife. He met with an undercover agent named “Red”. Lambesis would give “Red” an envelope with $1,000 for expenses, pictures of his wife, address, the code to get through their security gate and the date on which to kill her. To create an alibi for himself, he asked the hitman to kill his wife while he was with his children and agreed to pay “Red” $20,000 to do the hit. Though pleading not guilty during his initial arrest, his lawyer stated that his thought processes were “devastatingly affected by his steroid use”. On February 25th, 2014, Lambesis changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison. In June that same year, Lambesis came out as an atheist and claims that himself and other members of As I Lay Dying were “pretending to be Christian to sell records”. The band would release a statement separating themselves from the viewpoint of Lambesis and giving him time to find himself following the trial and prison sentence:
Tim "has spent much of the last year re-evaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it," adding, "That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere."
While also in prison, Lambesis would file a lawsuit against two Southern California detention centers for gross negligence and denying his request for Anastrozole. A drug he had been prescribed to fight the side of effects of steroid withdrawal. Claiming that as a result of the centers not providing him with Anastrozole, he developed breasts and underwent severe emotional distress. His case was dismissed in September 2016. Lambesis was released from prison on parole three months later in December.
Lambesis and his wife Danielle Norris in 2022
After getting out of prison and getting married/divorced, he would marry Danielle Norris in 2022. Though quiet in his personal life and seeming to get his life back on track with Norris, him re-uniting with As I Lay Dying and his side project Austrian Death Machine, new information and video began to surface near the end of 2024 after Lambesis & Norris announced they were getting divorced. After the announcement, many videos began appearing online on the internet and news platforms like Blabbermouth and Lambgoat. The videos would show Lambesis being verbally abusive to Norris, self-harming himself by punching himself in the head and chest. After the videos became viral, Lambesis countered the negativity towards him with a statement alleging he had filed a restraining order against Norris due to physical and mental abuse towards him. Norris would issue a counter-statement on social media stating the allegations were false and stating Lambesis was being “mentally unstable and hiding behind his PR team to control the narrative of his pattern of abuse.” Another video a year later would show Lambesis striking a dog with his foot, causing more uproar towards his unstable behavior, with over 70,000 signatures began to circulate to have Californian authorities to investigate the animal abuse.
After the allegations of abuse towards Norris and the band planning to tour in support of their 2024 album Through Storms Ahead, the band would truly unravel and collapse upon itself. In October 2024, Ryan Neff announced he was leaving the band to “benefit his personal and professional journey”. Less than a week later, Ken Susi and Nick Pierce would also leave the band. Their reason for departure was cited as “personal morals have been tested to a breaking point.” The band’s touring manager would also quit working with the band. With no touring manager, the European tour for the album was cancelled. That same month, Phil Sgrosso would also leave the band, with a statement:
“The band no longer offers a healthy or safe environment for anyone involved and he could not enable further actions that could negatively affect anyone working within this space.”
Following Sgrosso’s departure, this left Lambesis as the only original member left of the band. With so many band members suddenly leaving, and the quotes of “personal morals have been tested”, the metal community was in a buzz as to what the hell the band was going through or what had Tim done to cause all his band members to leave him. In April 2025, Susi revealed on the BREWtally Speaking Podcast, Susi explained in his departure from the band stemmed from an incident at his home where Lambesis abused Norris in the kitchen of his home, which Susi had caught on security video. After bringing it to Sgrosso’s attention and letting him know of his plan to leave the band following the revelation, Sgrosso asked Lambesis to leave the band. When he refused, the band left instead. Following this departure, Lambesis would hire new members and continue As I Lay Dying.
Regarding everything that Lambesis has done, does he deserve the hate? With the actions that he has shown behind closed doors as well as how he presented his case and viewpoints, then yes he does deserve the hate that he gets. Regarding the recent allegations with his now ex-wife Norris, legally he hasn’t been fully charged or arrested for domestic abuse towards her, so I have to officially state that for legal reasons. But, if there is witnesses and footage that shows him abusing his wife, then yes he deserves the hate for that. He definitely deserves all the hate for the attempted hiring of a hitman to kill his estranged wife. To be someone who is very into his Christian viewpoints and ideology (he even got a tattoo of Jesus playing guitar on an episode of L.A. Ink), the hypocrisy of being a Christian and doing none-Christian things is so conniving and devious that it just draws ire from the metal community. The actions that he has shown in 2025 with all the abuse and “roid-rage” like tendencies, just shows more and more how much he is just digging himself deeper into the hole that he started for himself post-jail. In my opinion, Lambesis has earned and deserved all the hate he has received towards himself.
After re-listening to the band’s discography and diving into the band’s history and its controversial front man, I’ve learned a couple things. Regarding the band and it’s music, I don’t think they deserve any backlash. While listening to their discography, I think I would constantly just go back to Frail Words Collapse or Shadows are Security. They help scratch that classic 2000’s metalcore itch and I do agree that Frail Words Collapse is a true banger album and an album you must check out for one of the best in the genre. Regarding the band itself, the band is a chaotic mess at the time of writing and Lambesis is the true issue with the band. Whether it’s the “roid-rage” tendencies he showcases, the alleged abuse towards his wife and his chaotic and sporadic behavior, it truly damages not only his image but the band that helped get him to where he is today. Maybe it might be best for the band to go dormant for awhile and hopefully Lambesis gets whatever help he needs and it sticks. I think if his behavior keeps escalating or he keeps popping up in the news, the band will shift from dying to just…dead.
