ALL THAT REMAINS Singer PHIL LABONTE: 'There's Nothing Edgy About Metal Anymore'

Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS will release their seventh studio album, titled "The Order Of Things", on February 24, 2015 via Razor & Tie. The new disc follows up 2012's "A War You Cannot Win" and marks the first time that ALL THAT REMAINS singer Phil Labonte collaborated on his lyrics, in this case with producer Josh Wilbur.

Asked if he wanted "The Order Of Things" to be more commercial than "A War You Cannot Win", Labonte told Revolver magazine: "No. As lame as it sounds, we just wanted to write what we like to hear.

"There's some really heavy stuff on this record.

"We're not the kind of band that ever wants to say, 'Does this sound like us?'

"If you're looking at music as something you do because you enjoy it, then whatever you write can't help but sound like you. And I really don't care what people call us. As long as the songs are good, that's all that matters — whether they're poppy or heavy. The fact that we've had a career this long and come from a genre that's seen its fair share of bands come up and go down, speaks for a good outcome of that philosophy."

Regarding his recent statement that "A War You Cannot Win" sucked, Labonte said: "It was mostly me; I think I could have done better. I could have had stuff that was a little more compelling, especially in some of the heavier songs. So I wasn't super-pumped about it. This record, I think, will make a significant statement about what we can do as a band and I think it's going to do really good things for us."

Labonte also spoke about the lyrics to the new ALL THAT REMAINS song "Tru-Kvlt-Metal", on which he sings "Same time, the exact same place / You've got the uniform on, so cliché / what a waste of my time / You all look the same, destroy the name."

"I just get a kick out of being an antagonist," he said. "When it comes to rubbing people the wrong way, I don't care who I offend.

"There are no more bad guys in rock and roll and metal. It has become so competitive and so hard to actually be in a band that can make a living, there are no more people that are bad guys. Everybody's got the right opinion and they say the right things or they don't say anything at all.

"There's nothing edgy about metal anymore.

"You're not edgy because you listen to music that sounds abrasive. That doesn't make you a forward thinker, that doesn't make you controversial and it doesn't make you edgy just because you're in a band that plays that stuff. Especially when you're dealing with bands that aren't trying to play the heaviest music in the world, the music that you play is not really edgy. Ideas are edgy. So if the metal world is looking for a bad guy, I'll be that guy."

ALL THAT REMAINS has already issued a new song from "The Order Of Things" called "No Knock".