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All That Remains - The Fall
Of Ideals
2006 Prosthetic Records
Track
Listing:
1. This Calling
2. Not Alone
3. It Dwells In Me
4. We Stand
5. Whispers (I Hear You)
6. The Weak Willed
7. Six
8. Become The Catalyst
9. The Air That I Breathe
10. Empty Inside
11. Indictment
Line-Up:
Vocals:
Phil Labonte
Guitars: Mike Martin, Oli
Herbert
Bass: Jeanne Sagan
Drums: Shannon Lucas
Website: www.allthatremainsonline.com Follow
The Hollow's Rating: B
Overall Rating: B |
Follow The Hollow's Review:
Massachusetts seems to produce some really really good metalcore bands.
One of them being All That Remains. Formed in 1998, it was originally a side project for then
Shadows Fall lead singer Phil Labonte, and he remains the only original member, going through six previous members before reaching the current line up of Phil Labonte (Vocals), Mike Martin (Guitars), Oli Herbert (Guitars), Shannon Lucas (Drums), and Jeanne Sagan (Bass).
You may be saying to yourself that Jeanne is a weird name for a guy, and with good reason, guy she is not.
Her addition to All That Remains improves the rhythm section greatly (although sometimes the bass is barely
distinguishable). The other change to the band since This Darkened Heart was the changing of drummers from Mike Bartlett to Shannon Lucas (no, not another female) and his impact on the band's songs are instantly noticeable, with pounding double bass riffs and blast beats, something very rare on previous releases.
Another improvement is the quality of Labonte's vocals. Not only does he have amazingly melodic clean vocals, his screams can range from high end shrieks to make Dani Filth jealous, but low enough to be the envy of any
death metal vocalists. The recording quality of All That Remains' albums have been gradually increasing, and
The Fall Of Ideals make the drums more powerful, and Labonte's vocals have more effect.
The music style tends to vary on this album, softer, more rock-ish songs like
The Air That I Breathe are sharp contrasts to songs like The Weak Willed that could fit onto a
Kataklysm album. The guitar parts of Oli Herbert and Mike Martin give some irresistible melodies and harmonies.
The only weak spot of the album is that while all are great songs individually, if listened to one after the other, some may sound weaker than others.
It's too bad that I have little patience for songs that suck.
Song summaries include:
This Calling - Man, the double bass work on this is simply amazing, and it really sets the tone of what to expect from the drums on the rest of the album.
A
Not Alone - The guitar riff in the intro is truly amazing. The song then takes a turn into a heavy verse, and a chorus that clearly demonstrate Labonte's excellent clean vocals.
This may just be my favorite song on the album. A+
It Dwells In Me - I don't know about this song. The only thing I really like is the solo at 1:22, and every thing before and after that seem to be just average.
B
We Stand - A mid-tempo that's seems to be in the same league as It Dwells In
Me. However, at 1:49, the song goes into classic All That Remains riffing, and followed by my favorite solo on the album.
B+
Whispers (I Hear You) - Am I the only one that this song strikes them as overly cheesy?
It sounds as if ATR tried to do some kind of In Flames guitar-switching-between-acoustic-and-distorted-guitar effect that doesn't really fit in.
Whatever. This song sucks in all aspects. C
The Weak Willed - This track is a sharp contrast between Whispers and itself.
Why? Because it doesn't suck. This song shows what ATR wouldn't have been able to do without Lucas, because drumming on previous albums is nowhere near as complex.
The guitars do an excellent job at staying heavy, and Labonte's vocals are all over the chart, changing from high screams to low growls in a matter of seconds.
A+
Six - Another great song that moves excellently thanks to Lucas' drumming.
Martin and Herbert do a great job as usual at blending melody and brute force.
A-
Become The Catalyst - This song just drips with At The Gates.
Well, at least the intro and verse do. And that's either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on
whether or not you like ATG. However, you'll soon realize you're listening to
ATR when you hear the chorus, which is the best one on ATR has ever done.
A
The Air I Breathe - Dammit. After so many great songs, I figured it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the album.
How wrong I was. The Air I Breathe sounds like the mainstream metal bullshit played by such terrible bands as
Atreyu or Bullet For My Valentine. I wouldn't be surprised if this is released as a single in hopes of trying to attract the fans of bands like those to
All That Remains. For shame! D
Empty Inside - This song sounds an awful lot like Become The
Catalyst; which is fine, because I like both songs. I'll break it down to you like this:
Melodic death intro riff, a mix of screaming/singing pre-chorus, chorus featuring blast beats, another solid guitar solo, another chorus, another verse, etc etc, and then a breakdown to show how hardcore
ATR is. By this point in the album, everything in this song has been done already.
This is when I start to get indifferent. B-
Indictment - Boring. Not going anywhere. It's purpose seems to cram all of the hardcore influences into one song so that
ATR can still be called metalcore. If I wanted to listen to bullshit, I'd put on an
Iced Earth album. D
Follow The Hollow's Rating: B
Discography (last updated 9.4.06):
All That Remains demo - 1999
Behind Silence And Solitude - 2002
This Darkened Heart - 2004
The Fall Of Ideals -
2006
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