Much like myself, many fans got worried when "Within Destruction" got posted online. The track took off on a completely new thrashier tone, that fell in the vein of Megadeth. Luckily for fans of As I Lay Dying, that sound only shows up in 2 instances of "An Ocean Between Us." The melodic introduction to the album, kicks things right into gear with the sound to expect on the majority of the album. "Nothing Left" brings the demise of the poppier sounding vocals as Bassist Josh Gilbert gives a tried and true effort in making the chorus of the song sound as metal as possible. The title track "An Ocean Between Us" continues the faster progression of the album with the usual catchy harmonies of AILD as well as more examples of the raw vocals of Gilbert. "An Ocean Between Us" then progresses into the speediest track of them all as well as my least favorite "Within Destruction." This track experiments too much with a raw thrash tone, that has me worried for future releases by the group, but then grows stronger for a brief period towards the 1 minute mark before reverting the opening riff. At this point in the album, I feared the whole effort would continue in the way "Within Destruction" left off, luckily enough the following track proved to be one of my favorites on the effort. With it's catchy chorus and technical leads "Forsaken" gave me hope for the rest of the album. The next couple of tracks chime in as what I call 'breaks' from the rest of the album. "Comfort Betrays" falls under the same category as "Within Destruction" with its only saving grace being the crazy solo, while "I Never Wanted" proves to be a primarily mellowed out jam. "Bury Us All" brings us back from the album's halftime with the continuation of overly melodic and catchy leads that AILD have grown to be known for.

   To follow "Bury Us All" comes yet another one of my favorite tracks on the album titled "The Sound of Truth." The speedy leads yet lower tempo of the track mold together with another infectiously catchy chorus to create one of the album's many highlights. To follow this great track, "An Ocean Between Us" offer a neat tapping interlude that builds up an epic soundscape for the track to follow. With a quick cadaveric cave echo, "Wrath Upon Ourselves" draws out a picture that'll place listeners in the exact mindset they were in while listening to "Frail Words Collapse" for the very first time. In fact the boisterous sound of this track creates such a vivid picture in my head that without the intense soloing skills on this album that scream out Shadows Fall influence, you could very well place this track on the old record and I believe it would fit quite well. To round off Metalblade's release of the new As I Lay Dying effort, "This is Who We Are" completes "An Ocean Between Us" with the catchiest chorus on the album. This track repeatedly covers the lines "Now this is who we are / i'll never know the answers / and i'll always wonder why" in various harmonies and with thick layers that have listeners believing it was sung in a melodic yet misanthropic chant. As the album dwindles down to its final seconds, As I Lay Dying end things off with a somewhat stereotypical, but perfectly fitting piano outro to complete the effort.