The ABC's of Reviewing Week 19: All That Remains Part 3

Are y'all ready for one of the greatest metalcore albums of all time? Of course, you are!

But before we start listening; this week's installment of Where Were They Then?: All That Remains 2006 Edition -

Between this album and the last, founding drummer Michael Bartlett took his leave and was replaced by drumming legend Shannon Lucas (of The Black Dahlia Murder and Battlecross fame.) Apparently, bassist Matt Deis from the last record was fired for being too drunk during live performances. He was replaced by Jeanne Sagan, who I'm pretty sure we all collectively refer to as "That Chick from All That Remains."

She gives off Auntie vibes.

Alrighty, kids. Strap the fuck in. I'm not responsible for any broken necks or whiplash you get from violently headbanging on this journey.

This Calling

© Prosthetic Records

Yup, this is the moment we've all been waiting for. From that inhale that kicks off this song you know that you're in for a wild ride. This isn't just peak All That Remains. Oh, no. It's the kickoff off of metalcore as a genre in general. 

What the fuck do I have to say here? If you're reading this, you've most certainly already heard this song tons of times. This song has an amazing outro. The harmonious screaming, riffing and singing are perfection.

However, I will say something that may be unpopular.

I fucking hate the video for this song. Yes, I'm happy that a lot of folks discovered the band from the credits of Saw III.  Nice tie in. Saw III is still a fucking disgusting movie I wouldn't wish my worse enemies to sit through and the song has nothing to do with anything violent.

Not Alone

And the album glides along smoothly. The tone and the speed of the guitar playing here makes you feel like you can play this yourself. If everything else about this song was terrible, I'd still love it because if the guitar work on display here. Once again, I have to say hats off to Oli. 

It Dwells In Me

This track is pretty good. I'm not afraid to admit that I don't like it as much as the last two tracks. The solo is pretty decent. It honestly feels a little silly to call this song filler when it could easily be the best track in any other metalcore band's entire discography. 

We Stand

This one is the percent blend of melody and aggression with Phil's singing and the heavy breakdowns. The main riff is a perfect example of keeping it simple but still rocking. It has like three notes to it. Any one of us could play the chorus to this song. 

Whispers (I Hear You)

This is probably the softest track so far. And what does that say about this album given that Phil kicks it off by shrieking? You know how I always talk about that scream that sounds both monstrous and helpless simultaneously. Phil does it multiple times on this track. Phil has become big homie. Phil had achieved great vocalist status. And he just rubs that shit in with this next track.

The Weak Willed

This is the closest All That Remains has come to making outright death metal. Oli is shredding at ten miles per hour. There's goddamn blast beats. Blast beats on All That Remains album. Phil is growling deep enough to give Corpsegrinder a run for his money. And then he pulls out the scream I was just complimenting last track again. Most of this track sounds like a Disney Villain song (if Disney had balls). It just sounds fucking evil. And then it breaks down into Phil singing and a clean riff from Oli. This is a very unique track. 

I never knew where to mention this but Phil used to be part of a grindcore group called Impending Doom. Their first EP is the shit (https://youtu.be/pQMmiQfQhRQ) and they just reunited this year.

Become the Catalyst

This track is pretty heavy too. It starts off with Phil screaming. The chorus riff sounds a lot like the intro from Trivium's "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" (You'll recognize Trivium's Ascendancy as another influential metalcore album.) Probably just a coincidence. The chorus is some clean singing about courage. This is probably the most Killswitch Engage-sounding song on the record.

The Air That I Breathe

Once again I ask, what should I say, here? This is a track that comes to mind whenever you mention metalcore. It's one of ATR's flagship songs.

The lyrics are some awesome shit about prosperity and carving your own path in life. I used to sing this song every morning (amongst other things) to get amped up. 

The guitar solo is amazing. I struggle to call it a solo because the drummer is going HAM the whole time. And goddamn those last thirty seconds are perfect. The way Phil' screams "No" is amazing.

Empty Inside

Phil had a nasty scream on this record. There's a very good reason this record is cited as one of the best metal albums of the 2000s. Phil's screaming is up there with Dani Filth in terms of how nasty it can sound. This track really showcases that.

Six

Once again Oli blesses us with the silky smooth guitar tone. This whole track feels a little smoother than the rest of the record. The vocal effect that Phil uses on some of the verses would become really prominent. Remember how I said 'For Salvation' off This Darkened Heart sounded more like this record than anything else on that record? This song sounds more like a track off of For We Are Many. Apart from the guitar solo.

Which was amazing by the way.

Indictment

Jesus Christ. I can't hold my tongue here. They dropped the ball with that breakdown. Phil came in with vocoder sounding like a badass radio host about to fuck some shit up. And they didn't even really do anything. That would have been the time for a heavy ass beatdown style blast beats and screaming breakdown to end the track with. That's my indictment.

This is still a fucking badass song. Oli grooved it up with that solo. Everyone went hard during that last minute.

My Favorite Song /  Final Verdict 

Hands down my favorite song off of this one is "The Air That I Breathe." It has one of the best solos on the record. The video is hella memorable. And the lyrics are very inspiring.

I do appreciate the fact that Phil introduced some different vocal styles and that Oli's guitar playing is completely cleaned up. Although I will admit this was their hardest record to sit through. Compared to the last two it felt a bit lacking in personality. It's their first record that felt a little formulaic and predictable. Even with Phil using only one vocal style on Behind Silence and Solitude, it had some songs that you could call straight melodeath and some songs that were something entirely different. The same goes for This Darkened Heart. This record had two songs that were almost death metal. But everything else was metalcore. 

This has honestly always been my least favorite of their records. Funny, given that it's the album that put them on most people's radar.



Jeanne Sagan Picture © 2015 Razor & Tie
The Fall of Ideals Album Cover © 2006 Prosthetic Records

Hey! Where's the Album Review?!?

Alright, alright. Hold on to your butts.

This week's album review is going to be delayed. In fact for the foreseeable future I may roll them out on a different day. 

You see not even ten minutes after I wrapped up Thursday's post on Donald Trump I got a text from my boss saying "Hey bro, are you coming to work today?" 

"You'd be a lot less fired if you did."

I had been scheduled to work for the next four days but despite the fact that I've received what's fundamentally the same email tons of times with no problem, Gmail decided to flag my work schedule as spam. Fuck my job, eh?

A.I. ain't taking over shit.

So now, I'm working til Sunday afternoon. The review will be out on Monday at the latest. I'm not happy about it either chief but the house I'm crashing in has no internet.



Dazed and Confused Distributed by Gramercy Pictures
Robot Falling Picture © 2015 CBS Interactive
Technical Difficulties Picture © 2012 MrSenthil254 on YouTube

Why I Don't Bash Trump

Before we start this off, I'm not a Trump supporter. I've just seen a massive influx of memes painting Trump supporters as evil.

Confusing specimen? Yes.  Stupid? Only sometimes. 

Evil? Far from it.

And boy, I'm starting to realize that there's folks that HATE him. I know folks that hate him so much, he could pay for their heart surgery and they'd try to have another heart attack. And I wish I was joking. That kind of hatred is unhealthy. These kinds of folks want to know why I'm 'soft on Trump.' Here is my response.

For one, I don't really bash anyone, unless it's for laughs or I feel like that person is evil. I don't feel like Trump is evil. I think he may be incompetent or at least pretending to be incompetent.

Come on, no one acts like this.

Could you even imagine doing this?

One big reason I don't bash Trump? There are enough people bashing Trump. If words could kill, half the country would be going to jail for assassinating the President. You turn on the radio, someone is talking shit about Trump. You turn on the TV, someone is bashing Trump. There's folks bashing Trump in magazines, movies, barbershops, and grocery stores. We have enough people on the "Fuck Trump" train. It's almost a cliche to hate Trump at this point. And I don't jump on bandwagons.

Also, I'm not doing Trevor Noah's job for free! I'm not a slave.

I don't like unnecessary talk about politics. I participate in activism. And when I do, I'm usually busy all day. I don't want to go home after that and keep talking about politics. I'm doing my part to change the country. Bashing the President is not part of that job. And contrary to what Trevor Noah and Bill O'Reilly would have you believe; it doesn't change anything.

Pictured: Bill O'Reilly finding out he has been elected the new President after his hit-piece on Obama got his whole cabinet arrested.

Also, the easiest way to start a disagreement is to bring up politics or religion. I've already been in way too many arguments in my life and I'm not looking to start more. I'm a 'get it off your chest and then get out of the way' kind of guy.

Lastly and most importantly, I don't have the time. I don't know Trump. Trump doesn't know me. I'm a twenty-year-old who's trying to get rich. I don't have the time to be sitting around talking shit about a guy who not only doesn't even know me but probably wouldn't care if he did.  At the end of the day, fuck Trump. 

Bill O'Reilly Picture © 2016 CBS News
The Daily Show © 2019 Comedy Central
Trump Rally © 2020 The New York Times Company
Trump Shoving GIF © 2017 NATO 

The ABC's of Reviewing Week 18: All That Remains Part 2

Welcome back. Do you see how the world's becoming a better place? I did that. No, we did that.  And we're going to continue doing it. Damn, right.  Goddamn, I'm so horny for each and every one of you right now. Let's tackle this song review.

This week we're listening to All That Remains' second album This Darkened Heart.

There were more than a few changes between the last album and this one. OG rhythm guitarist Chris Bartlett left his brother behind. Bassist Dan Egan also hit the road. They were replaced with Mike Martin (who'd worked with Labonte in Flatlined, one of the bands I recommended last time.) and Matt Deis, respectively.

You'll see in this record why a lot of people call All That Remains a bootleg Killswitch Engage. At this point, they basically were. Mike D made the art for their records. Adam D produced this one. Phil had very blatantly transitioned from only screaming to include singing and gang-vocals. There's double bass drumming and more dual guitar solos. I'm not at all saying that they were trying to be like Killswitch Engage, but if they were they were doing a good job. But I honestly think this was just the natural progression of things.

And Death in My Arms

© Prosthetic Records

This song is pretty decent as the album opener. The solo in this one is really tight. You can tell that things are going to be a little different from last time. There's far less chugging. The guitar tone is much lighter. The riffing is more epic than melancholic. The rhythm guitar is way more distinct and melodic. Phil is rhyming more than before. Albeit incoherently, but still. 

Besides, I hear the incoherent rhyming thing is hot nowadays.

The Deepest Gray

And now comes the most glaring difference between this album and the last. Clean vocals! 

This is the first All That Remains song to feature them. It definitely helps in making out the lyrics. And that's a plus because I don't know what the 'Deepest Gray' is, but if Phil ain't afraid of it neither am I. This was also their very first single and their first song to have a music video. Let that sink in as you listen.

Vicious Betrayal

Pretty heavy intro to a pretty heavy track. That breakdown is something to hear. However, it feels like it's missing something. It could be a little harder. This is the one song it would be appropriate to growl the whole way through and down tune on. I want to hear this track rerecorded. It's got some heavy lyrics and some heavy composition but the production and the execution don't do it justice. It's still one of my favorites off this record, don't get me wrong.

I Die in Degrees

Jesus, Oli had the hands of a demigod. That sweeping riff he does throughout this track sounds amazing. And then on top of that, this track has an awesome solo. That man was a fucking legend and listening to these albums makes me pissed that he was so underappreciated. 

While we're on the topic of Oli, let's get something out of the way. Oli was a secret weapon that could turn a bad song into a decent one single-handedly. I call it the Oli Factor. You won't see me saying it too much during these first few records, but when we get to A War You Can Not Win and beyond, it's going to become part of the vocabulaire.  I'm not just ass-kissing because he's dead, you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. 

And to be honest, this song kind of sucks apart from the guitar playing. It has the Oli Factor.

Focus Shall Not Fail

Firstly, I love how the intro builds up from slow strumming into fast riffing. And then Phil jets into the song immediately. I don't usually advocate for reading the lyrics while you listen but this one time... These are some of Phil's best lyrics to date. I'm a sucker for positive lyrics in my metal so I fuck with this song hard. This is one of those songs that I hear in the back of my mind when I'm pushing myself through some difficult shit. It's also epic how they play the same riff during the intro and the outro. It makes the rest of the song feel like some kind of epic adventure that ends at the same place it began.

Or ends at the same place it "bag ends". Get it?

Regret Not

This track is an instrumental that opens (and closes) with some acoustic playing from Oli. It's pretty decent. 

I decided that since I can never really rank instrumental tracks compared to the rest of the album I'd just keep a list of all of the instrumental tracks I've reviewed and compare them to each other.

1. "Awaking the Dream" (Aftershock)
2. "Prosperity" (The Absence)
3. "Through the Looking Glass" (Aftershock)
4. "Outro" (The Absence)
5. "Regret Not" (All That Remains)
6. "One for the Ditch" (3 Inches of Blood)
7. "Fade to Black"(Alex Skolnick Trio)
8. "Chief and the Blade" (3 Inches of Blood)
9. "Introduction" (Aegaeon)

This one is somewhat middle of the road. I don't find myself wanting to listen to it over and over like the better instrumentals. But it's not bad or unlistenable.

Passion

Boy, this track is fucking amazing. That intro is eargasmic. The title must reflect what they felt when they were making this song. Phil's screaming is on point. The guitar perfectly compliments it. The drumming sounds uniquely powerful. This song packs a fucking punch.

For Salvation

And the aggression continues! It immediately kicks off like a gunshot. This feels the first glimpse of what the band would become. Phil's signature nasally singing voice makes its first appearance in this song. Along with his trademark scream. This one actually had me opening up a circle pit in the coffee shop I write these posts in. 

 

The untattooed baristas didn't appreciate my energy.

Tattered on My Sleeve

As you can probably already tell, the second half of this album is waaaay heavier than the first half. I'm not sure if this was some kind of weird marketing strategy or if someone did coke halfway through the recording process.

Once again we hear Phil singing as opposed to screaming the whole time. The outro is amazing. It must be heard. You know when you get into the zone playing guitar and you start riffing fast as fuck but you're only hitting like two or three notes? (I'm talking to my fellow noobs in the audience.) That's what it sounds like happened at the end of this song.

But by far my favorite thing about this track is the awkward music video which is the most 2004 soap opera thing I've seen since Desperate Housewives.

This Darkened Heart

Ah yes, the title track. And one of their heaviest to date. Phil damn near starts pig-squealing. On the chorus. The drummer is going ham. I haven't heard this many cymbals on the whole album. Oli is playing some Doom Metal type shit. That outro feels less like a part of the song and more like a personal statement. Because this single indeed fired off their career.

Here's the video in all it's early 2000's glory, MTV2 branding and all.

Final Verdict

Listening to this record feels like watching an epic action movie. It just gets better and better. Halfway through the quality ramps upward. Phil pulls some "I bet you didn't know I can actually sing" shit. The production starts to feel more varied. The drumming and guitar playing gets better. It honestly feels like each song is saying, "That wasn't even my final form, motherfucker! Watch this!" 

I like this record. Admittedly, more so than the last. You can tell that they've grown as a band. They went from a melodic death metal band to something almost entirely unique. There's slivers of a The Fall of Ideals era sound trying to push through. Which I can't wait to tackle. And that's exactly what we'll be doing next week.

See you around, you sexy, sexy devils.

All That Remains Picture © 2004 Prosthetic Records
Bag End Picture © 2001 New Line Cinema
Don Draper © 2007 Lionsgate Televsion
Future Picture © 2019 Epic Records 
Flavor Flav Picture © 2014 Kowarski on Flickr
Future Picture © 2019 Epic Records
Getting Arrested Picture © 2019 Adobe
This Darkened Heart Album Cover © 2003 Prosthetic Records

The ABC's of Reviewing Week 17: All That Remains Part 1

Ha! You thought I wouldn't come back, didn't you? Well, guess who was wrong?!?

But we don't have to discuss your lack of faith in me...

Although, I do find it disturbing.

All That Remains started when a jaded Phil Labonte (freshly kicked out of Shadows Fall for in his words "not being Brian Fair") met up with guitarist Oli Herbert, brothers Chris and Matt Bartlett, and bassist Dan Egan. They put out two demos in 99, did some touring and in 2002 put out their first record Behind Silence and Solitude. 

Today we'll be listening to that record.

Behind Silence and Solitude

© Universal Music Group

This track holds a special place in my heart. It was my first introduction to the genuine heavier sound of All That Remains. I was only really familiar with their songs like 'Two Weeks' and 'Not Fading'. And their record Madness had just come out. We won't be looking at that one for a while so here's a taste of how that record sounds.

© Razor & Tie Records

I had no idea that this band could be hard. Let alone melodeath hard.

From These Wounds 

Oli Herbert was like no other. I honestly pray that if there is someone to call responsible for his untimely death, they fucking pay for it.

It's not enough to hope he's shredding in heaven if his legacy can't have peace on earth.

I really like the intro solo. It's very melodic. I love the scream that transitions from the verses to the chorus. And this track has one of the first of many amazing Oli Herbert guitar solos. I know I say that a lot. But when I say an All That Remains song has a great solo, the solo must be on another level. Oli was a guitar wizard. And I will be honest, I cried when I heard that he died. He was one of the sole reasons I picked up a guitar myself.

Follow

Aw man, this is a standout ATR track. They've recorded it several times. And each time it gets better. Pay attention to the intro. If you just listen to the right ear, you'll just hear drumming and on the left, you'll hear Oli shredding the intro. They say stereo channeled music is more enjoyable. And I use how many times I've replayed this intro as an example to support that. This track just screams aggression man. It kicks off like a gunshot. Phil starts screaming the lyrics right after the intro. Everything about it just feels fast.

Clarity

This is the first track I had to really give thought to listening to. The intro is badass as usual. The same riff plays throughout the verses. But at this point, I realized this album was propelling itself off of how fast and aggressive it sounded. The transition to a slower tempo song feels a little strange. And this track feels like someone let a little air out of one of the tires. The solo definitely saves this song though. Oli starts going ham on the fretboard around the three-minute mark. And just when you think the song is going to end with this somber guitar solo it kicks back up and there's another chorus. And it fades out with some chugging.

Erase

Is it just me or does that opening riff sound like Davidian? 

This track is good. Something about it is ensnaring. The guitar has just the right tone to it (I'd tune it up though.) The verse and the chorus transition so smoothly. And then Oli starts sweeping so hard you'd think he was the maid.

Now hear me out on this next point. The breakdown and the outro are good. But they feel like they're from a different song. It feels like they didn't know how to end this song and they had another song that was just an outro, so they mashed the two together. Both parts sound good but you can tell they don't go together. A bit like mixing an energy drink with alcohol. 

Or like if this were a real person.

Shading

A lot of these tracks have the "intro - scream a bit - chorus - scream some more - chorus - solo - scream differently on top of a guitar solo - scream the chorus like a madman" structure. It works for this band because everyone is pretty good at what they do. The bass compliments the guitar really fucking well in the mix. I think Oli could improvise for hours. And this type of instrumentation compliments the type of screaming Phil is doing.

Home to Me

This was my favorite song for a while. All the good things about this band are on display in the first few seconds. Their guitarists are on point. The drummer is fantastic. The bassist is talented enough to keep up all the while doing his own thing (He's barely audible for a good bit of this song though. Fingers crossed for a remaster.) The vocalist works perfectly with it. Phil switches his vocal style for the only time on the whole record. Everything really shines in this track. This song has the most blatantly groovy solo of all the songs. To come onto the scene and be this good on your first record is rare.

One Belief

One word. Or is it two? Two words.

One portmanteau word - Melodeath. That sums up the feeling of this track.

I haven't understood a damn thing Phil has said this whole record (You'll be missing that by Madness.) but on this song, he's pretty comprehensible. And I like what he's saying. This track really has a proto-Killswitch Engage feel to it. The riffing, and the positive lyrics along with the out of control drumming and insane soloing really invoke early KSE. This is probably a leftover from Phil's Shadows Fall days. (He probably scrapped it because it wasn't about being depressed after his girlfriend left.)

 

Yes, these are real lyrics that a grown man wrote and recorded for a metal record...

 

 

Final Verdict

I like this record. It's been a while since I've listened to it and I like it even more than I remembered. Ultimately All That Remains is one of my favorite bands. I like every part of their career and each change of sound that came with it. I find it funny that they started off as a blend of groove and melodic death metal with no clean singing. When I was in Highschool I ate this sound up and I had a hard time finding bands that sounded like them. Which meant I spent whole days looking for music. Some of my favorites I found were Sunless Rise, Flatlined, Dreamshade, and Shadows Fall (their first two records). I don't know if you kids have easier ways of finding music these days but I had a hard time.

Behind Silence and Solitude Remastered and Reissued Album Cover © 2007 Razor & Tie Records
Darth Vader Picture © 1977 The Walt Disney Company
Oli Herbert Picture © 2015 Craig Bryon Photography (Dude has AWESOME PICTURES of every band. Check out his Facebook)
The Ides of March Poster © 2011 Columbia Pictures

ABC's of Reviewing Week 16: All Shall Perish Part 2

 
Jesus Christ, what the fuck did you guys do to the country? 

I leave for two months and y'all start rioting in the streets and burning shit to the ground because some shitty cop killed an amateur pornstar?

This shit is going downhill so hard, that even my old job got busted up (the one from the last few journal entries I posted). And to be honest, I ain't even that mad.

My shitlist has three names on it and they all belong to my ex-manager.
I have a feeling someone else might feel the same way.

But honestly, enough about that, you come here to escape from the dumpster fire we call reality.

 Maybe if we ignore it, it will put itself out. Let's try that for a little while.

When we last left off, we were looking at All Shall Perish's second album The Price of Existence. The songs were kinda tedious and most of them sounded the same. This time we're tackling their last album to date, This Is Where It Ends.

Divine Illusion

© Nuclear Blast Records

It's pretty hard to talk bad about any of the songs on this album because I like it so much. This song in particular reminds me of Unhallowed-era Black Dahlia Murder with the way Eddie keeps switching from screaming to growling. As I was saying in the last review, All Shall Perish were pretty much to first bands to sound like this, and to write about this stuff (in their genre). Nowadays, this song sounds like standard deathcore fanfare so I won't award it too many points. But you do have to remember that for a while All Shall Perish was the embodiment of deathcore.

There Is Nothing Left

This is a good song. When Eddie screams he sounds like a helpless woman and a monster at the same time. This is one of those times when my words cannot describe how good the song sounds. The guitar tone is distinct. The bass is chugging and pounding along with the drums. This track is the equivalent of an aural juggernaut. You can feel it as you listen to it. And the lyrics are pretty decent, on top of all that. 

Procession of Ashes

This track continues that unstoppable feeling from "There Is Nothing Left". It feels like that track's melancholic continuation. Eddie is still screaming, but this time he's harmonizing with a choir (or whatever you call that effect.) I'm honestly not afraid to say that this track is one of the best in the entire genre. 

A Pure Evil

I don't have much to say about this song. Eddie sounds purely evil. Those guitar sweeps are evil. In fact, the guitarist is pretty damn good on this song. His playing is one of the best parts of this track. Especially the dual guitar solo towards the end. I vowed to stop reading the lyrics to the songs after the last review, so I don't know what this song is about. But goddamnit they 100% captured that apocalyptic atmosphere.

Embrace the Curse

I've got to commend these boys. If I had to pick one word to sum up the way this album sounds, its fucking evil. However, I'm not going to pull any punches here. This one really just sounds like 'A Pure Evil Part 2.' I'm not criticizing the band for sounding like themselves, I'm criticizing them for not switching it up enough. I honestly can't tell the difference between these two songs.

Spineless

I like this track. It feels a lot more melodic than the last couple of tracks. The licks have a weird upbeat rhythm to them that contrasts with the heavy vocals. It feels really invocative of early At the Gates. Which is definitely a plus in my book. And I know I've said it before but I love the way Eddie harmonizes with the gang vocals towards the end. I'm a sucker for harmony.

The Past Will Haunt Us Both

Well, I spoke too soon on this album. This song is amazing. This song exhibits that distinct All Shall Perish sound from the last two albums. The distinct guitar tone. The somber lyrics and sad-sounding yet angry vocals. Jesus Christ, these guys can blow it out of the water when they want to.

Royalty Into Exile

Damn. This is hands down one of their best songs. Everything is on point. Eddie's switching it up from screaming to growling to shrieking to growling. The chugging and drumming are relentless. The breakdown is fucking brutal. This is a good ass song. I even found myself headbanging and turning up the volume on this one. Something I don't think I've pointed out yet is how the guitarist will riff in the background and it will sound just distinctive enough from the rest of the song to stick out but melodic enough not to sound out of place. It's almost like he came in afterward and jammed to the song instead of actually laying everything down with the rest of the guys. I've noticed that on a good bit of their songs.

My Retaliation

This is by far the angriest song on the record. The track opens with Eddie screaming "I hope to see you fucking die!" So you already know you're in for a ride from the first few seconds. To put it into perspective, this song sounds a lot like Hatebreed. It's motherfucking angry. Eddie talks during the breakdown. He's screaming at the top of his lungs. I don't know if I prefer the cringe-worthy political lyrics or if I'm more of a fan of these angry Taylor Swift ballads. It's definitely pretty funny to picture Eddie writing these songs. 

"That bitch said she'd come to the tour bus, but now she's kissing some scene kid. I'm going to write a song about this."

Rebirth

This song really highlights the range that this band has. Eddie went from screaming pretty coherently in the intro to shrieking pretty quickly. That takes a shitton of control. And I know I was complaining just three songs ago. I know I've complimented Eddie thirty times. But how many vocalists do you know of that will scream in so many different styles? And all in one song, on top of that? We've looked at albums where the vocalist sang in just one voice the entire time. This fucker screamed in four distinct styles in just five minutes. I can 100% see why Eddie was chosen as the successor for Mitch Luker in Suicide Silence.

The Death Plague

I don't really like the instrumentation on this one but once again Eddie is going insane with his vocals. At one point he starts damn near pig squealing. Towards the end, he starts yelling. If there's a Man of a Thousand Screams it's Eddie Hermida. This motherfucker can sound like five other bands. It makes 100% sense why they made him fuck off All Shall Perish until he was successful with Suicide Silence. All Shall Perish would've wound up blowing Suicide out of the fucking water. Imagine if Eddie had done another All Shall Perish record after You Can't Stop Me. I guarantee Suicide Silence probably would've faded off.

In This Life of Pain

That piano part was beautiful. I can't figure out which of the members played it. The song after it is okay. It's the only song on the record that features any sort of clean singing. And I find it hilarious that those few words are "You fucking disgust me." That's very All Shall Perish.

Nobleza En Exilo

My version features the Spanish language version of Royalty in Exile. And it really highlights how fucking good that song is. Because of course it doesn't rhyme anymore and some of the verses don't fit where they're supposed to. And it still sounds pretty decent. I can't take it seriously though. I think this is what you have to sing to summon whatever demon provides Taco Bell with their food. I respect Eddie for repping his country though.

Surprise! You're Dead!

It takes some big balls to cover Faith No More. It takes even bigger talent to cover them and damn near make a better song than the original. And be honest. If you didn't know Faith No More (Hell, maybe you don't. Welcome to life, brother.) There ain't many people that could do that laugh and not sound like a complete crackhead. If there ain't a single other song on this album that you liked, then you gotta commend it for having this bomb-ass cover. Take notes Five Finger Death Punch.

What Do I Think?

All Shall Perish is a good fucking band hands down. I'm most certainly going to check out their record Awaken the Dreamers. I'm pretty sure it will show the transition that happened between their second album and this one. Because this album is tons better. 

But all in all, I fuck with this band. They have a message. They have a distinctive sound. They have an insanely talented frontman in Eddie Hermida. I honestly can't wait for his stint with Suicide Silence to take a little pause so this band can resume making music. 

What's Next?

It seems like these song reviews were the only thing holding the world together.  I stopped writing them in January, and then a deadly Chinese virus popped up out of nowhere. I took another break in March and shit has been going downhill ever since. So, I'm bringing the reviews back. Y'all don't have to worry about pandemics and riots over dead pornstars any more. I'll be your vaccine. I'll be your porn star.

Next time I'm around these parts we'll be taking a look at -

Holy shit!



Next time. We'll be taking a look at my favorite band, All That Remains! And that's going to be a seven parter! Strap your asses in for an onslaught of the (second) best metalcore band on this Earth!

Peace out. And don't burn your city down.



All That Remains Picture © 2019 Whatever That Watermark in the Corner Says;  Just Don't Sue Me
Eddie Hermida Picture © 2014 MetalsPeak
George Floyd Pictures © 2017 The Habib Show
Looted Jimmy John's Picture © 2020 Dakota Piecinsky