"frail words collapse" was one of the albums that i waited for a vinyl re-issue real bad. there have been a few in the last months which made the list shrink. records like killswitch engage's "alive or just breathing", whitechapel's "the somatic defilement" or the black dahlia murder's "miasma" were big wants. the industry cashes in on easy to produce re-issues and i couldn't be more happy about it, even if it feels a bit sleazy. metal blade is one of that labels which drop re-press after re-press in multiple colour-ways.
when i saw as i lay dying's masterpiece "frail words collapse" on pre-order at emp mailorder, i was all over it. i grabbed a copy of the most limited colour-way and waited eagerly for it to arrive. when it arrived and i dropped the needle on the vinyl, i was way back in 2004. a friend of mine who also handed me the first two the black dahlia murder albums on cd, borrowed me his cd version and i began to really love this scorcher. so many perfect songs on here. especially "distance is darkness" is perfect.
the chaotic first three quarters of the song with the harsh screams and growls of tim lambesis culminate into the beautiful desperation of the melodic last quarter. top notch! the presentation by metal blade is nice as well. the record comes with a slip sleeve, an insert and a poster of the fantastic cover art by converge's jacob bannon. on top comes this nice clear with cream and yellow splatter vinyl. #110 out of 200 copies. metal blade. 2003/2018.
