As They Sleep is an American

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. They have released two albums and an EP. Shortly after releasing their first album, As They Sleep signed to metal label

Solid State Records Solid State Records is a Christian metalcore record label, an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. Unlike Tooth & Nail, Solid State signs hardcore punk and heavy metal bands. Like Tooth & Nail, Solid State is primarily a Christian label. However, ...

. They released their second album, ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', on November 23, 2010. Mixed by

Jason Suecof Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder, ...

(

Job for a Cowboy Job for a Cowboy is an American death metal band from Glendale, Arizona. Formed in 2003, the band's debut album ''Genesis'' was released in 2007, peaking at No. 54 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and selling 13,000 copies in its first we ...

August Burns Red August Burns Red is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist John Benjamin "JB" Brubaker, rhythm guitarist Brent Rambler, drummer Matt Greiner, lead vocalist Ja ...

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

) at Audio Hammer Studios, the album has one music video. Since then, they have toured with bands such as

Becoming the Archetype Becoming the Archetype is an American Christian metal band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999. They have released five albums on Solid State Records. ''Dichotomy'', which was released in November 2008, sold around 2,300 copies in the United St ...

Living Sacrifice Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnso ...

, The Showdown and

To Speak of Wolves To Speak of Wolves is an American metalcore band from Greensboro, North Carolina, formed in 2007. The band has released three full-length studio albums, ''Myself Is Less Than Letting Go, Myself < Letting Go'', ''Find Your Worth, Come Home'', an ...

. Since the release of the album, ''Dynasty'' has received very positive feedback.

History

According to vocalist Aaron Bridgewater, the band formed in 2003 as a three piece and the other two members joined later. They released an independently released self-titled EP in 2005. The band signed to Luxor Records soon after the release. Their debut album, ''

Blacken the Sun ''Blacken the Sun'' is the debut album by extreme metal band, As They Sleep. They have been compared to Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in t ...

'', was released on October 28, 2008, under Luxor Records. Produced by the band's own guitarist, Nick Morris, owner of Cloud City Studios ( The Black Dahlia Murder, Walls of Jericho). ''

Blacken The Sun ''Blacken the Sun'' is the debut album by extreme metal band, As They Sleep. They have been compared to Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in t ...

'' was moderately successful and defined the band's unique

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

style. After ''Blacken the Sun'', the band signed to

. Their highly acclaimed second album, ''

'' was released in 2010, before leaving Solid State, and re-signing to Luxor. Bridgewater stated in a recent interview that the band's new album will be titled, ''The Hallowed Abstract''.

Name

The band's name is a metaphor, as Bridgewater said in an interview with ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

''. Here is the full quote:

"As They Sleep is a metaphor for going above and beyond to succeed, kind of like in warfare. When the enemy sneaks into camp in the middle of the night to take you out as you sleep, ou've got to dowhatever it takes to prevail."

The band has been wondered to be a Christian, most likely due to being signed on

, a record label with both secular and Christian bands. The band leaves it up to their listeners to determine this. Bridgewater stated

Band members

Current members * Aaron Bridgewater – vocals (2003–present) * Derek Kosiba – bass (2003–present) * Barry Gomez – guitar (2003–present) * Nick Morris – guitar (2003–present) * Tony Lukitsh – drums (2009–present) Former members * Paul Burkett – drums (2003-2009) Session musicians * Steve Longworth – piano (2008) ;Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2003 till:12/31/2017 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:other value:gray(0.55) legend:Other_release id:bars value:gray(0.95) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom BackgroundColors=bars:bars ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:2003 LineData = layer:back at:01/01/2005 color:other at:10/28/2008 color:studio at:11/23/2010 color:studio BarData = bar: AB text:"Aaron Bridgewater" bar: NM text:"Nick Morris" bar: BG text:"Barry Gomez" bar: DK text:"Derek Kosiba" bar: SL text:"Steve Longsworth" bar: PB text:"Paul Burkett" bar: TS text:"Tony Lukitsh" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:AB from:01/01/2003 till:end color:Red bar:NM from:01/01/2003 till:end color:Green bar:BG from:09/01/2003 till:end color:Green bar:DK from:09/01/2003 till:end color:Blue bar:SL from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:purple bar:PB from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2009 color:Orange bar:TS from:01/01/2009 till:end color:Orange

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * ''The Hallowed Abstract'' (TBD) EPs * ''As They Sleep'' (2005) Music Videos * "A Thousand Deaths" (2009) * "Oracle of the Dead" (2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

As They Sleep on Facebook
Musical groups established in 2003 Musical quintets Solid State Records artists American deathcore musical groups Extreme metal musical groups