Source: Album Artwork
As Lions is made up of three ex-members of metalcore outfit Rise To Remain, including the son of none other than Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, so as you’d expect, their debut album, Selfish Age, is rather quite good. The band have already played a run of sold-out UK shows, which saw them snapping up with a US record deal and working with David Bendeth (Of Mice & Men, Bring Me The Horizon) and Kane Churko (Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed) on the album.
What stands out most throughout this album is Austin Dickinson’s incredible voice. Every single track has been touched by these soaring vocals, driven by the hard hitting riffs and high tempo rhythms. The lyrics themselves are a work of art. They touch on generational issues such as consumerism and the image-obsessive Internet world of today, as well as telling stories of breaking stereotypes and letting go. Each song is paced to showcase not just the lyrics and themes, but also the band’s skill and technique. As Dickinson puts it, the tracks have “these little peaks and valleys”, taking the listener on a journey of expression and emotion.
Title track ‘Selfish Age‘ has a huge, anthemic vibe to it with a fast paced and super catchy chorus. Couple that with the powerful lyrics addressing the issues faced in this Age, which Dickinson describes as the “sense in the world right now that something went wrong. We don’t know quite when or where it went wrong, but we have no idea how to turn back the clock and fix it”, and it all makes for a killer compelling track. ‘World of Fire‘ beautifully demonstrates the band’s ability to pair piano soft verses with raging, weighty choruses and those epic lead vocals.
Overall, Selfish Age is a well constructed and superbly written album. It’s hard to believe it is the first full length offering from As Lions, and will certainly be a contender for debut album of the year. The band are after “complete and utter world domination”, and if they keep going at this rate, they probably won’t be far off!
