All That Remains- The Fall of Ideals

Artist: All That Remains

CD Title: The Fall Of Ideals

Label: Razor & Tie

Reviewer: Matthew Johnson

Date: 7-30-06

New England metal band All That Remains is part of the new school of hardcore punk and metal crossovers, combining technical guitar elements of death and black metal with the emotive bellowed vocals of hardcore. To keep things interesting, the band also incorporates melodic moments on most of their song's choruses. Opening track "This Calling," for example, is particularly full of vocal hooks, with harmonies soaring over the blast beats during the chorus before reverting to a rapid-fire bellow during the verses. "Whispers (I Hear You)" is brilliantly done as well, starting off with strummed guitar before bursting forth into anguished screaming. Occasionally, however, the band seems to lose focus; "Become The Catalyst," for example, can't quite decide if it's death metal, punk, or what, and the guitar solos on many of the songs seem too self-indulgent, with the progressive technicality on "Not Alone" actively detracting from the rest of the song's aggression, like Rush suddenly popping up out of nowhere in the middle of a Slayer song. "The Weak Willed" handles this better, saving the more showy bits for a Led Zeppelin-inspired outro after alternating between sludgy death metal vocals and thrash-influenced guitars. This is decent stuff if you like a touch of melodic influences showing up in brutal guitar-based music, and it's handled well, for the most part, but it doesn't quite stand up to such similar hardcore/metal hybrids as Bleeding Through. Visit the band at www.allthatremainsonline.com.