As I Lay Dying formed in San Diego, California, in 2000, founded by vocalist Tim Lambesis. The band is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California, formed in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, with the first complete lineup, which included drummer Jordan Mancino, established in 2001. Around 2000, before settling on its name, the group briefly went under the name Life Once Lost, and after a period of flux Lambesis brought in drummer Jordan Mancino, forming the band under the new name As I Lay Dying, then hired on Evan White on lead guitars, Jeremy Rojas on rhythm guitar, and Noah Chase on bass. The band's name was drawn from the William Faulkner novel of the same title. Early on the band operated within the Christian hardcore and metalcore scene, and the band entered the studio to record their debut album, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, which was released in June 2001. In 2003, the band signed with Metal Blade Records and released Frail Words Collapse, a record that established their reputation in the underground scene.
The band's true breakthrough arrived with their third album. Shadows Are Security, released June 14, 2005 through Metal Blade Records, was the band's first album to feature new members Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso, and was also the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, debuting and peaking at number 35. Critics and industry press quickly recognized it as a defining moment, with one outlet calling it the band's breakthrough release. This lineup, consisting of Tim Lambesis on vocals, Nick Hipa and Phillip Sgrosso on guitars, Clint Norris on bass, and drummer Jordan Mancino , carried the band into wider mainstream metal circles, headlining the second stage at Ozzfest while also supporting Slipknot on a European tour. The band's momentum peaked commercially with 2007's An Ocean Between Us. The fourth studio album, An Ocean Between Us, peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Top Rock chart. Throughout the following years, As I Lay Dying became one of metalcore's most prominent touring acts. The band performed at festivals including Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air, and Taste of Chaos. Their achievements were recognized with regional and industry honors: in 2007 the group received the "Ultimate Metal God" award from MTV2 during the first annual "All That Rocks" special, and was named Artist of the Year at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007, and 2008. The band's career took a dramatic turn in 2013 when Lambesis was arrested and, in 2014, sentenced to prison for attempting to hire a hitman to kill his then-wife, Meggan Lambesis, pleading guilty and serving two years of a six-year sentence. During his incarceration, Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert formed another group called Wovenwar. Remarkably, after his release in 2016, the band reunited in 2018 with a mix of original and new members, releasing the album Shaped by Fire in 2019, though this reunion lineup would not hold together for long.
In the years since, As I Lay Dying has undergone significant further upheaval. Nick Hipa, along with drummer Jordan Mancino and bassist Josh Gilbert, left in 2020, and since then Ken Susi, Nick Pierce, and Ryan Neff joined the lineup, only to later announce their own exits. Despite the turmoil, the band released its eighth studio album, Through Storms Ahead, on November 15, 2024, through Napalm Records. That record was described as a milestone for "Grammy-nominated metalcore pioneers" marking 25 years and seven acclaimed albums, defining the band's legacy for years to come. As of this writing, Lambesis and guitarist Phil Sgrosso remain the band's anchors, with Lambesis at times left as the sole official member amid ongoing lineup instability, yet the band continues to record and perform, cementing its legacy as one of the most influential and turbulent acts in the melodic metalcore genre.
For the archive at waynedennon.com, As I Lay Dying holds a small but meaningful place among the bands Wayne Dennon documented through his lens. Wayne photographed the band on two separate occasions between 2005 and 2006, capturing them across two different cities in two different states, right in the whirlwind period following the Shadows Are Security breakthrough when the band's sound and lineup were first coalescing into the form that would carry them to national prominence. Those performances live on in 50 photographs preserved in this collection, images that have drawn 38,445 views from visitors returning again and again to relive the raw energy of a band on the cusp of its biggest years. As with so much of Wayne's work, these frames stand as a quiet, lasting testament to a moment in heavy music history, captured by a photographer whose dedication to the scene continues to be honored through this memorial archive.
