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All That  Remains - The Fall of Ideals

 

	RELEASED: July 17 2006 PRODUCER: Adam Dutkiewicz LABEL:Prosthetic Records BAND: Philip Labonte Mike Martin Oli Herbert Jeanne Sagan
+ Excellent musicianship, Earworm melodies, Songwriting - Couple parts don’t fit, Occasional sacrifice of heaviness for melody	TRACKS: 1.This Calling 2.Not Alone 3.It Dwells On Me 4.We Stand 5.Whispers 6.The Weak Willed 7.Six 8.Become The Catalyst 9.The Air That I Breathe 10. Empty Inside 11.Indictment

 

OVERVIEW

For some reason, All That Remains seems to have been overlooked by the majority of the metalcore-crazed mall kid population, which I don’t entirely understand.  Being from the same area as these guys, and having watched other bands from that scene like Killswitch Engage, Unearth, and Shadows Fall blow up and become icons of the genre, it kind of seems like All That Remains has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle.
            The good news is ATR is still kicking tail and even though they’ve changed their sound somewhat for this record, it’s still the same band through and through.  If there was any doubt before that Phil Labonte is one of the top metalcore singers out there, this album is all the proof you need.  Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage is the most obvious comparison, but Labonte trumps Jones’s range high and low and captures a real nasty snarl in his voice, as opposed to Jones’ more operatic tone.  The rest of the band’s definitely no bunch of slouches either – Oli Hebert’s solos are like In Flames on speed, and the dueling harmonies on this record show that the whole band has been listening to their Maiden and, more recently, bands like Arch Enemy.  The drums are another highlight here – newcomer Shannon Lucas throws insane double bass, blast beats, all kinds of rolls, and every other trick in the book out on this record, and it works like a charm.  Anyone who thinks metalcore is still 3 chords, screamed verses, and a whiny emo chorus needs to check this one out and adjust their thinking accordingly.

SONGS

ATR come out swinging with “This Calling”, which is also the 1st single from the album and is everything a good metalcore track should be – fast, brutal, melodic, and just begging for some good headbanging.  “Not Alone” features a great chorus and a solo straight out of the Murray/Smith playbook, but when modern bands are shredding this good, it’s hard to argue with.  “It Dwells in Me” is more of the same, which is no bad thing, solos and all.  “We Stand” dares to slow things down a little bit, and “Whispers” features what is probably one of their most accessible choruses on the CD.  “The Weak Willed” is Labonte’s 1st experiment in ATR with some death/black metal vocals, and although the man has insane range, it comes across as a bit of showing off rather than fitting the song and style of the band.  “Six” is another melody-heavy number with a great melodic interlude and a prime vocal performance, and “Become the Catalyst” follows in basically the same vein.  “The Air That I Breathe” is arguably the softest and easiest for non-metalheads to get into, but still maintains their sound and is a good way to mix up the record a bit.  “Empty Inside” brings the speed back like they’ve still got something to prove, and the closer “Indictment” is just plain savage, with a wah guitar solo to die for.  I mean honestly, why don’t people solo like this anymore?

CONCLUSION

For those of you that haven’t given up on metalcore altogether, but are darn sick of wussy 3-chord copycat bands like Phoenix Mourning, Bullet For My Valentine, and It Dies Today and want some good, fast, shredding, headbanging music, this is your remedy.

 

Review by Matt Rewinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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