Review Summary: Unoriginal And Unnecessary
Massachusetts: home to Killswitch Engage, Unearth, Shadows Fall, Overcast and the more chaotic Converge: also known as some of the most successful metalcore bands in the metal scene. All the aforementioned artists seem to go from strength to strength with each album, however since 2006, fellow neighbourino’s All That Remains seemed to have strayed from their solid metalcore anthems such as This Calling and The Air That I Breathe and have instead taken (a) to the gym and (b) a more outspoken attitude to the meaning behind their newly watered down music. Recently singer Phil Labaonte has publicly made a point that he does not mince his words: “When it comes to rubbing people the wrong way, I don’t care who I offend”; and has a strong outlook on opponent topics such as politics, war and general apathy which is most evident in 2012’s tepid A War You Cannot Win. With all this built up aggression and defiance plus the addition of Josh Wilbur behind production (Gojira, Lamb Of God) for new album The Order Of Things, what could go wrong?
Ah… The album starts more with a pop than a bang… Immediately noticeable is Labaonte’s vocal work: the song is entirely cleanly sung and the dramatic buildup has zero effect. The clean vocals are a prominent feature of the album. Whilst it does bring in a sense of clarity it does overshadow the rest of the music in a negative way. The title of the first track (This Probably Won’t End Well) is actually decent summation of the album really…
All That Remains continue to use their approach of unity and self belief. These topics can be interesting and spark conflict in conversation however when sung in the wimpy way Labaonte sings the lyrics, it takes away the seriousness of what is invoked. Therefore someone farting the rhythm to Megadeth’s A Tout Le Monde would make a better ballad than the abysmally cheesy For You; and lyrics like “Remember what made us great/I am forever grateful for your hand to make me this way” (The Greatest Generation) follow the same mundane message of: You’re-a-strong-person-promise-me-you’ll-never-forget-that?
There are good aspects to this album however. All That Remains throw in a couple of surprises such as the addition of female backing vocals in Divide, even if it does make the singing even weaker than it already is… Josh Wilbur calibrates all the elements of precision within traditional metalcore into this record to make the overall production of the record its strongest point. Lead Guitarist, Oli Herbert and, drummer, Jason Costa’s abilities are put in the spotlight in tracks such Bite My Tongue and Victory Lap. Hell, Labaonte even does a scream in Fiat Empire that would fit perfectly in 2006’s career best The Fall Of Ideals.
For a heavy metal album, there are only 2 ‘heavy songs’: Tru-Kvlt-Metal and the slightly somber No Knock. These songs just about save the album being laughable however the former track might be a genuinely good tune if it wasn’t so ironic for them to sing about not wanting to conform and it end up summarizing everything musically commercial and melodic that was released within the past 5 years…
