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