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A few years ago, a wave of metal bands, largely fueled by Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall, brought a substantial amount of popularity and life to American metal. The leading bands carried unique characteristics, but were typically based on a common principle: making extreme music accessible. Between shimmering, grandiose choruses, twin-guitar harmonies and a host of accessible tempos, American metal bands discovered a formula that worked.
Then what seemed like a million others did too.
For the most part, those other bands range from terrible to mediocre. But there have been good results, and All That Remains, a band with some ties to Shadows Fall, is one of the successes.
All That Remains thrives off of this polished, streamlined brand of contemporary metal because they understand how to write it and have more than enough musical skill and precision to cleanly execute it. The band doesn't push boundaries or meander into experimental territory, but they've got a good formula for sleek, catchy and aggressive metal songs memorized.
The band's third full-length, The Fall of Ideals, is a consistent, solid record. Throughout 11 three- to four-minute songs, the band jumps between blasts of riff-heavy, chugging and double bass-loaded metal and driving, often infectious choruses. Singer Phil Labonte, who has an impressive range of vicious screams and a top-notch singing voice, is the record's highlight. He ties the songs together with constant enthusiasm and even sings hopeful, sincere emotion into the clean choruses. The rhythm section is really tight, and guitarists Mike Martin and Oli Herbert pen a lot of thrashy riffs and bright solos, which are an energetic contrast to the familiar harmonies.
As much as this style of metal seems to be on the downfall of a surge, All That Remains' best moments remind me of why it became a spectacle in the first place. Hell, there's no way I'll forget the choruses in "Not Alone," "It Dwells In Me" and "Become the Catalyst" any time soon, and the ferocious introduction to "Six" is killer, even after 20 repetitions. Ignoring the fact that it’s generic, The Fall of Ideals is amongst the better contemporary metal albums to drop this year.
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