Awakened

Awakened, As I Lay Dying's sixth studio album, was the first the band made with producer Bill Stevenson, the drummer of Descendents and Black Flag, after two albums with Adam Dutkiewicz; Metal Blade Records' biography says Stevenson was chosen as someone from outside metal who knew the underground scene. Drums and guitars were tracked at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado, and bass and vocals at Lambesis Studios in San Diego. Earlier albums had taken about two months in the studio; this one was tracked in three and a half weeks between tours. Stevenson, the band and Jason Livermore are credited as producers; Colin Richardson mixed the album at Treehouse Studios in the UK, and Ted Jensen mastered it at Sterling Sound. Tim Lambesis wrote all the lyrics. Metal Blade describes them as turning inward after the outward-looking themes of The Powerless Rise, and Lambesis said he wrote honestly about difficult times in order to get past them. Phil Sgrosso programmed the synths on "Wasted Words", and Stevenson is among the gang vocalists. Metastazis created the artwork and layout with Tiffanie Uldry. The line-up was Lambesis on vocals, Sgrosso and Nick Hipa on guitars, Josh Gilbert on bass and vocals, and Jordan Mancino on drums. On 22 June 2012 the new song "Cauterize" premiered on Sirius's Liquid Metal channel, and Metal Blade announced the album's title and release date the same day; the song was then offered free for 24 hours before going on sale as a download, with a lyric video on 29 June. On 11 September "A Greater Foundation", which Metal Blade called the first single, appeared with a video directed by Drew Russ. Released on 25 September 2012, the album sold about 28,000 copies in its first week and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 11; it topped Top Hard Rock Albums and reached No. 6 on Top Rock Albums, No. 3 on Independent Albums and No. 12 on Billboard Canadian Albums.