Review Summary: It'll have you banging your head and shouting along profusely.
All That Remains' third studio album, The Fall Of Ideals.
The album starts off thunderously with This Calling. Phil gives a high shriek accompanied by furious double bass, furthermore, a relatively simple guitar riff keeps you interested. After the the shriek Phil screams, "I secretly crave, crave that scent again." A mere 26 seconds into the song, and an insanely catchy chorus commences. Another screamed verse followed up by the chorus and the first breakdown assaults your ears, roughly two minutes into the song. A brief guitar solo is heard after the breakdown. This Calling is a good encapsulation of the Fall Of Ideals sound - alternating heavy verses with extremely catchy choruses, and throwing in a breakdown or guitar solo. This Calling was definitely one of the better songs on the album and will evoke a striking first impression among listeners.
The next four songs follow the formula of the first almost meticulously. Incorporating heavy passages, cleanly sung choruses and a breakdown or solo. On the second track, Not Alone, the first noteable guitar solo is found, while not being overly technical, it's melodic and easy to listen to. More solos emerge on the next two tracks: It Dwells In Me and We Stand, with the former being one of the better solos on the album as far as technicality and speed is concerned. My only criticism would be directed at aforementioned third song, failing to grab my attention apart from the good solo. The first five tracks are surprisingly catchy and you'll find the choruses stuck in your head for days.
The sixth track, The Weak Willed, is the first song deprived of a chorus. It sports a much darker and sinister sound than the previous five songs. Phil even implements death metal-like vocals in some of the verses. The drumming is once again an exhibition of speed and tightness. The song ends with a gentle guitar section. In the bigger perspective, the song was well placed and adds an element of brutality. The seventh track, Six, is certainly more user-friendly than the sixth track. Once again the double kicking is pleasant to the ears and we hear a gripping guitar hook. Phil combines screaming with clean singing during the verses and there's a heavy breakdown about 1:20 into the song. The double bass drumming on Six is outstanding - fast, crisply produced and a joy to the ears.
On the eighth track, Become The Catalyst, All That Remains yet again prove their aptitude at executing verse-chorus-verse metalcore. The Eighth track features one of the best choruses on the album with the vocalist singing, "Let the fire consume me, let the fire burn. Let the courage run through me, let the fire burn." I think the longer build-up contributed to the value of the chorus, being longer than 90 seconds long. Apart from Become The Catalyst, choruses seldom take longer than a minute to commence on Fall Of Ideals. The ninth track, The Air That I Breathe, starts off with a catchy groove courtesy of some good guitar work complemented by matching bass kicking. It features a chorus with screamed and cleanly sung vocals. A nice addition to the already impressive collection of choruses on Fall Of Ideals. The track ends with a good guitar solo and finally a breakdown. The final two tracks are two of the heavier tracks on the album, and finishes it powerfully.
Overall, the lyricism was somewhat refreshing for a metalcore album, instead of focusing on the cliched morbidness, it's more inspirational and optimistic. Phil manages a healthy mixture of high shrieks, screams and clean singing.
The Fall Of Ideals is without a doubt, one of the better metalcore albums you'll see invading CD stores today. Technical drumming, ripping guitar work and a grabbing vocal performance amalgamate well to form the well oiled machine known as The Fall Of Ideals. It'll have you banging your head and shouting along profusely.
