As Daylight Dies

Background and release

The album was released on November 13, 2006 through Roadrunner Records. It peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200, selling up to 60,000 copies within its first week. It also peaked within the Rock, Hard Rock, and Digital Albums Charts. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on June 30, 2009, which was on the same date of the release of its successor, Killswitch Engage. It has since gone on to sell more than 500,000 copies in the United States alone.

The album's first single, "My Curse", was released in 2006, and managed to peak at number 21 on the Billboard Rock Songs Chart. The radio edit strips down most of the track's unclean vocals, replacing them with Howard Jones' re-recorded clean vocals. A music video directed by Lex Halaby (who previously directed the live video for "A Bid Farewell") premiered on MTV 2's Headbanger's Ball on November 3, 2006. "My Curse" was included as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and as downloadable content for the video games Rock Band and Rock Band 2. It was also featured on the soundtrack of the video games Burnout Dominator and Burnout Paradise. The album's second single, "The Arms of Sorrow", was released in 2007, and peaked at number 30 on the Rock Songs Chart. A music video directed by Aggressive premiered on Headbanger's Ball on May 1, 2007.

A special edition was released on August 28, 2007, including four B-sides and a DVD containing three music videos and behind-the-scenes footage. The album's B-side "Holy Diver", a cover of Dio's first single, was released as the album's third single on August 17, 2007. It peaked at number 12 on the Rock Songs Chart, making it the band's highest charting single. A music video directed by Brian Thompson premiered on the band's official Myspace page on August 1, 2007. The video is a comical re-imagining of the original video by Dio. A music video for the album's fourth single, "This Is Absolution", was released in 2008, featuring footage of the band performing the song live, as well as backstage footage. It also released the song "This Fire Burns", which was the entrance music for WWE Superstar CM Punk from 2006-2011.

Critical reception

The album has received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the album, scoring it a four and a half out five, positively commenting, "If the cynics don't get it by now, they never will. For the rest, this is the album to come into the tent with." The tracks "This Is Absolution", "Unbroken", and "Eye of the Storm" were indicated as the AMG Track Picks. Raziq Rauf of Drowned In Sound also praised the album, scoring it a nine out of ten and saying, "With As Daylight Dies, Killswitch Engage have cemented their position as the reason for metalcore ever existing."

Track listing

All lyrics written by Howard Jones; all music composed by Killswitch Engage.

Special edition DVD

1. "My Curse" (video)
2. "The Arms of Sorrow" (video)
3. "Holy Diver" (video)
4. "Making-of "videos" for 2 clips ("My Curse" and "The Arms Of Sorrow")

Personnel

Chart positions

Album