ALL THAT REMAINS

…For We Are Many

Razor & Tie/Prosthetic
rating icon 7 / 10

Track listing:

01. Now Let Them Tremble
02. For We Are Many
03. The Last Time
04. Some Of The People, All Of The Time
05. Won't Go Quietly
06. Aggressive Opposition
07. From The Outside
08. Dead Wrong
09. Faithless
10. Hold On
11. Keepers of Fellow Man
12. The Waiting One


ALL THAT REMAINS struck gold with 2008's "Overcome". Though it boasted a very thick coat of polish, the band's ability to pen well-balanced, catchy and heavy tunes shone through above all else. Springboarding off the attention they garnered from their breakout release, "The Fall Of Ideals", the Massachusetts-based metalists landed comfortably within the boundaries of mainstream metal and they show no signs of leaving anytime soon.

A logical extension of its predecessor, "…For We Are Many" uses a formula very similar to that heard on "Overcome". The scream/sing/scream vocals are commonplace throughout the disc's twelve tracks and there seems to be one of those rhythmic "chuga-chuga" riffs (or breakdowns, as the kids used to call them) around every corner. Yes, it seems that ALL THAT REMAINS knew better than to mess with a good thing, but this isn't really a case of playing things safe either. A noticeable dose of the Swedish-styled melodic death that permeated from the band's early days brings a much needed shot in the ass to this disc. Aggressive melodeath collides with a PANTERA-inspired groove on what is easily the album's heaviest hitter, "Dead Wrong". Nearly matching said aggression is the title track. Everything about this song screams "metalcore," but it's hard to argue with a well-written song and that's just what this is. "Aggressive Opposition" is another one that delivers plenty of razor-edged riffing and guttural vocal excursions, but it's also a song that hinges on the edge of predictability. What a song like "Aggressive Opposition" does best is serve as a bridge between the album's yen and its yang. Where "Dead Wrong" is sure to get the blood boiling, calmer, more emotive moments like "The Waiting One" and the radio/arena ready "Hold On" have a very different effect on the psyche. Said tunes, along with "Keepers Of Fellow Man" and "The Last Time", show ATR's desire to break away from the constraints of modern metalcore and evolve into a beast unto itself. In many ways, they've done just that. The band's penchant for writing catchy tunes oozing with melodic hooks, searing leads and metallic riffing coupled with the ability to expand upon a familiar sound without even coming close to abandoning it leaves "…For We Are Many" an album that the dudes in SHADOWS FALL and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE should be envious of. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Oli Herbert's oh-so-tasty talk-box solo at the end of "Won't Go Quietly". Said section delivers one of the disc's most memorable moments, it's just too bad they had to rely on a generic fade-away to end the song.

It seems simple enough, take a batch of ear-pleasing tunes that have one foot in the pit and the other in the arena, polish them off with stellar production and you've got one of the year's best albums, right? Not exactly. While I struggle to find anything overly bad about this record and many of Phil Labonte's melodies and Herbert's shredding are (at times) the stuff of legend, something seems to be missing here. Maybe it's that this particular style is starting to play itself out or maybe ATR is just striving too hard for rock superstardom, but there's thin layer of blandness that blankets the album as a whole. The songs are good and the performances are second to none, but this just gets less exciting every time I listen. I guess that's the difference between a good album and a great album.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).