By Rinjo Njori



Western Massachusetts has become a hotbed for heavy metal with Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage becoming major players in the modern metal music scene in the last five years. All That Remains are set to join them in making their mark on the national scene.

The Fall of Ideals, their latest album from Prosthetic Records, builds on 2004's This Darkened Heart. Most of This Darkened Heart was grind heavy and technically based, with hints of melody. The worst that could be said about it is that it might have been a bit heavy handed and rushed. Several tracks even included the all to familiar growl/ sing paradigm, which pretty much every band adopted in 2004. One review even compared Phil Labonte's singing to Journey's Steve Perry. Not very metal, but not that far off.

The Fall of Ideals, at just under 40 minutes, churns out eleven tracks of relentless metal. On "Six" the hardcore riffs and rolling guitars blend beautifully with the breakdowns. Martin and Herbert's guitar work is loose and the riffs bite. This is perhaps the only time on the album where they get a chance to kickback.

"The Air I Breathe" ideally should be the first single in place of the weaker "This Calling." Stylistically it captures all of All That Remains' strengths. "The Weak Willed" comes off as the most brutal song on The Fall of Ideals. The song brings to mind grindcore legends Brutal Truth and Napalm Death.

Musically, Oli Herbert and Mike Martin drive this entire album. Switching effortlessly technical riffs to the more simplistic breakdowns. The solo on "This Calling" is the highlight of the song and the intro on "We Stand" recalls Painkiller-era Priest. Shannon Lucas and Jeanne Sagan form and admirable rhythm section. Lucas's drumming on "We Stand" effortlessly keeps the riffs in time, while taking a back seat during the solo.

The Fall of Ideals themes seem to focus on two areas; the devastating loss of love and inner strength. The "love" songs are brutal with Labonte using horrific imagery to describe how hollow the loss has left him. Often referring to "scars" and "wounds" as if the experience has somehow gutted him. "Empty Inside" is the only song on the album that "gives love a chance." Inner strength also runs deeply through the album. Most of the lyrics come off as extremely mature straight edge anthems and are reminiscent of Inside Out. Similarly, the message All That Remains conveys is not preachy - instead focusing on self reliance and strength of mind. Only the closing song "Indictment" seems to be "off message." A "not-so" veiled jab at extreme religions and their hypocrisy, the song doesn't fit on this record.

All that Remains' Labonte most likely didn't read the review that compared him to Journey's front man. Bit. his singing has changed dramatically. Instead of Steve Perry comparison's Labonte's singing falls more in line with Queensryche's Geoff Tate. On This Darkened Heart the singing seemed force and out of place. Now, the singing parts on The Fall of Ideals are more organic and unpredictable. This gives the songs a more "agro feel." Still the listener might wonder how Labonte effortlessly switches between growl and melody. Other bands who employ this style usually have two vocalists. You can only imagine how raw these transitions are live, but somehow one might imagine they are even better.

With The Fall of Ideals, All That Remains has taken their music to the next level. While they are firmly entrenched in the metal genre, they effectively fuse classic metal, grindcore and hardcore allowing them to keep the music fresh and extremely engaging.