All That Remains album "The Fall of Ideals" came as a shock to me.
When i had first heard the band, I had known they were a very talented,
good band. But I kind of looked at them as a band that would either keep
making albums that sounded nearly identical or a band that would never
create something as good as there previous release "This Darkened Heart".
In thinking that, I was very wrong. "The Fall of Ideals" brings a different
feeling into the mixture, although it's clear what band it is upon listening
to the album, It has a lot of new pieces in the puzzle that have put this
band into a whole other dimention of music. This album differs from the
previous release in the sense that, this album contains more actual singing;
correction really good singing. It has a polished over sound, but in a way
that it doesn't take away from the band's sound at all and to be honest I
think the band itself has gotten a lot better. The guitar parts are well
rounded and the drumlines are a lot more technical and seem a lot more
difficult to play. It is my prediction that All That Remains will take the
metal scene by a storm yet again, and will become the next big band to
make it to the top of the charts.
To being "Fall of Ideals" is All That Remains single "This Calling". This
song starts up with a scream and then moves right into fast drumming, and
catchy guitar riffs followed by the songs chorus. When i first heard this
song i couldn't believe it was All That Remains, the screaming was clearly
them, but with the actual singing making as big of an improvement i was
shocked. On "This Darkened Heart" there was some actually singing, but for
the most part, the singing was just ok where as in "This Calling" I noticed
a phenominal difference between the two albums. After a pacing melodic guitar
lick, All That Remains build up into an intense breakdown, built up of dual
screams, and piercing pinch harmonics and then they fade into a short solo
before looping the catchy chorus again before the song comes to it's end.
After listening to "This Calling" I felt that maybe that song was just an
outstanding song mearly because it's the album's single, but I was definately
wrong, I found the following song "Not Alone" just as fitting as a single as
the previous song. It contains catchy yet original guitar riffs and a chorus
that is just as good as the one in "This Calling". The only major difference
in the structure of the song is that the solo in "Not Alone" is a lot longer.
"It Dwells on Me" jumps right in as another phenominal song on the album, it
may not have as good of a chorus as the previous two songs, but it has in my
opinion the best solo of the whole album and also contains catchy riffs that
would seem fitting for an 80's metal band. "We stand" continues in with the
same feel, it starts out with just guitar and then jumps right into the riff
shortly after. The song contains background vocals behind the music, that give
the music a good feel and a well rounded sound. The solo in this song is also
notable, All That Remains has a great way of producing original and catchy
solos that many bands would find hard to follow up.
The song "Whispers (I Hear You)" starts out quite differently. They start out
with an acoustic guitar part unlike that of "This Darkened Heart" but still
really clever. This song's overall tempo seems to be dropped for the most part
but it also contains parts that are sped up like the rest of the songs on the
album especially towards the end of the song, when the solo comes in. Another
thing i noticed especially in this song, was that In this album, All That Remains
have use a lot of electronic techniques in the production of the album, I think
the little bits they use are a perfect way to blend the different parts together.
"The Weak Willed" starts out with a fast paced picking pattern, and then jumps
back and forth from a classic metal beat and the riff that kicked off the song.
Although this song is not much longer than the rest of the songs on the album,
it happens to be the longest on the album. This song differs a lot in the sense
that it, has many dual vocal patterns, and it has eery melody's and an instrumental
part that concludes the track. Track seven oddly enough is named "Six", I don't
really understand why, but this song reminds me much of a song that Killswitch
Engage would have made, which also makes it less of a surprise that Adam Dutkiewicz.
One of the parts that i find especially clever, is the classical guitar interlude
that progressively gets bolder and turns into yet another ravaging guitar solo. The
song repeats a previous riff before coming to its end and then "Become the Catalyst"
rings in with a scream. Although this song is very repetitive, it's nothing close
to a filler, so far on this album I have found it impossible to call any of the
songs a "filler" song because it's obvious how well thoughtout each of them are.
"The Air That I Breathe" turned out to be one of my favorite songs on the album,
it has catchy guitar melodies and the singing pattern of the song, has been ringing
in my head over and over again. The lyrics themselves are strongly written and they
represent the never give up attitude, that vocalist Phil Labonte commonly writes of.
If I had to choose a song i found less favorable then the rest of the songs on the
album, I feel it would have to be the albums next song entitled "Empty Inside". The
track is just not as exciting as the rest of the songs on the album, that's not to
say it's a bad song, just a less catchy song, although the breakdown at the end of
the song does make up for it quite a bit. To finish off the album the track
"Indictment" has a modern day American Metal feel to it. It seems to be a song that
would be well related to Lamb of God or yet again Killswitch Engage. Something I also
noticed about this song, is that the harmonies in the background of the song seem
a bit like slowed down black metal riffs and it's even evident with the minor sounding
notes used in the solo.
Overall, I couldn't possibly think of one thing to say against this album. It's well
thoughtout down to the electronics used with the drum fills. The solos used in the
album are beyond original and almost seem one of a kind. All That Remains fans will
find themselves bobbing their heads to a different beat, but an improved one and newcomers
to this band will find themselves a new favorite band. My hopes are very high for this album
and i strongly believe that it willl prove to be the metal album of the year.
~ Drew
July 11 2006