:: All That Remains - The Fall Of Ideals

All That Remains

Although promising a lot, Boston based metalcore/melodic death metal act All That Remains were at best what you would consider a solid band based on the evidence of their first two releases. Sure, both 2002’s ‘Behind Silence And Solitude’ and 2004’s ‘This Darkened Heart’ were good representations of what the scene had to offer, but what really worked against the band was the lack of anything remotely different from what anyone else was doing around the same time. Perhaps sensing that their third album would be a make-or-break situation in terms of longevity, All That Remains have tried out some new ideas on ‘The Fall Of Ideals’ and the results certainly work in their favour.

The opening track ‘This Calling’ seems to combine the best of All That Remains’ old sound and future direction with a strong melodic death metal/metalcore punch heard in the dual technical guitar work from Oli Herbert and Mike Martin. But its vocalist Philip Labonte who really offers up the biggest evidence of change from the band’s past sound, with the distinction between his death like growls and clean melodic singing efforts sounding poles apart, more than ever. ‘Not Alone’ is every bit as distinctive and impressive as the opener, while tracks such as ‘It Dwells In Me’, ‘Become The Catalyst’, ‘We Stand’ and ‘Whispers (I Hear You)’ capture the melodic sensibilities of the band’s newfound sound, but with the aggression of the older efforts.

On the latter half of the album, the band pushes things further into the extreme with the crushingly heavy ‘The Weak Willed’, ‘Empty Inside’ and ‘Indictment’ as punishing as the band have ever produced before, while ‘Six’ and ‘The Air That I Breathe’ are by far the strongest and most memorable tracks penned by the band. It’s taken three attempts, but with ‘The Fall Of Ideals’, All That Remains have finally managed to place themselves in the same league as big names within the metalcore scene.