All That Remains - Overcome
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Free Music Notes for Overcome
Free Music Review: I could see it as they turned to stone
Hit: 3 Stars
Do you know what All That Remains biggest problem is? It's their lack of willingness to experiment. The vast majority of their songs run about 3 minutes (give or take), include both scream and sung vocals, and a guitar solo. They adhere too much to the "verse/chorus/verse/chorus" structure. This can be looked at as a great strength or a weakness. On one hand, they are a tremendously talented, reliable band. You know what the product is when you buy the CD. (Well, sort of... read below) Ultimately, however, they perfected this formula with their last CD, "The Fall of Ideals."
So where do All That Remains go from there? We have the answer to that here. They still adhere to that formula, which may just be the fatal flaw of this band. They execute it this time around, albeit with less conviction than on "The Fall of Ideals." They don't change a whole lot. The only thing they have changed is the vocals. In addition to their traditional pop song structures, the vocal performance has gotten considerably softer. This is best evidenced by songs such as "Two Weeks", and "A Song for the Hopeless." This is not to say that they don't have some intense songs. "Before the Damned", and "Relinquish are well crafted heavy songs. Even these great songs (I do mean great, as something has to be mentioned about Oli Herbert and Mike Martin) are brought down by the vocal performance. Take for example the extremely awkward chorus of "Before the Damned." I don't mind singing, but it just isn't done well on this disc, and it doesn't fit in most of the places it's used. It really is a glaring flaw.
The guitar work is another story. Oli Herbert and Mike Martin are amazing. From the opening riff of "Before the Damned", to the jaw dropping solo in "Days Without", to the powerful closer "Overcome", this album has plenty of great fretwork going on. I would just like to see this guitar work used to create songs... not three minute pop songs, but aggressive, experimental songs. I am not expecting an Opeth CD when I buy All That Remains, but they can afford to make their songs interesting.
In the end, that is what this record is not: interesting. It is a solid record, repeating what has been done, albeit with more of a pop influence. This CD doesn't really have a ton of replay value, so just borrowing it from a friend will suffice.
Hope that helps you decide if you will get this or not.
Free Music Review: Solid album
Hit: 3 Stars
Many people had a fear after "The Fall of Ideals" that this band would not be able to top that record. Although this is still a solid outing by All That Remains, I agree with the statement that it couldn't out due its predecessor. They seemed to have gone into the dreaded wanting to be mainstream sound to gain more attention. Although it isn't a bad thing to do that, I don't feel like this is the album to get them more attention. There aren't enough strong tracks on this one as there were on "The Fall of Ideals". "Two Weeks" is one of their best songs written in my opinion. It is the first song where singer Phil Labonte sings from beginning to end with no screaming. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it either because this song shows that he has the voice to be able to sing beautifully and not be known as a screamer. The chorus is one of those that will get stuck in your head and you won't care if you can't get it out of your head. The opener "Before the Damned" has a very heavy scream from Phil and kicks into a poppy catchy chorus that almost sounded a little emoish but it will grow on you and after giving it a couple listens it won't sound emo, especially considering this band is far from emo. Another stand out in terms of Phil's melodic voice is "Forever In Your Hands". It has a mixture of singing and screaming in the verses and has another one of those memorable melodic choruses. The album's heaviest track is without question "Relinquish". This track may leave people thinking where was this sound in the rest of the record? Very strong song, but there isn't enough of it in the record. The closer is an interesting one being a cover of Nevermore's "Believe In Nothing". I was surprised to see it but wasn't really that disappointed with the outcome of the cover. It sounds almost exact to the original but also serves as a stepping stone for Phil's singing. Solid album but comes nowhere near "The Fall of Ideals".Free Music Review: Who am I listening to....?
Hit: 3 Stars
On the first listen of this record, I had to pick up the cd case several times and remind myself that this was All That Remains. I could've sworn I was listening to As I Lay Dying or It dies today. I do not usually write reviews but was compelled to write this one because of my sheer dissapointment.
What happened? After making arguably THE greatest metalcore record ever, The Fall of Ideals, I had always wondered if it would be possible for ATR to get even better or even match it. Sadly the answer is no, this album is several steps back in the opposite direction. Phil's blood curdling screams and oli and mikes tandem guitar perfection are no more. Overcome has excessive clean vocals which I usually do not mind, but ATR to me were characterized by their tasteful ability to use clean vocals as a compliment to the wide array of screams and growls that were the prominent feature of ATR. Now clean vocals have become the main feature and the synthed sounding drums and whole feel on this record does not have that raw urgencey that Ive come to love on previous efforts. Get Adam D Back!
Now, to say this is a poor metalcore album would be unjust. This album has all the elements of a good performance, its just that ATR have changed their sound to resemble all the hundreds of other generic metalcore bands that all do the same thing and have turned their backs on the elements that made them one of the only unique ones. Although this album still has its moments, some good screams by phil and great guitarwork, its just not the same. Atleast I still have the perfection of Fall of Ideals to satisfy me. If you are new to All that Remains, please buy Fall of Ideals, or an earlier effort. If you like generic metalcore than you will enjoy this album. Lets just hope there is still one more Fall Of Ideals worthy album to come.
Free Music Review: Not Easy To Overcome Its Flaws
Hit: 3 Stars
All That Remains are a band known for being a metalcore band with guitar work that excels what the genre would usually offer. They also succeeded in not being too monotone throughout each release. With "The Fall of Ideals", the band were able to experiment and succeed, despite a few setbacks (mostly vocals). "Overcome" shows that the band definitely don't write the same album multiple times, but it is also the band's weakest work to date.
The instrumental work is still great, with some amazing solos. This alone doesn't prevent it from being a mixed bag. "Before The Damned" is a promising start, with some Testament-style vocals performed by Phil Labonte. However, by "Two Weeks", things start to dwindle with the use of flat clean vocal work that just ruins the mood. It's not terrible, but if you're familiar with albums like This Darkened Heart and even The Fall of Ideals, it pales in comparison.
The production also doesn't have that certain edge to it, mostly because instead of recruiting Adam Dutkiewicz, they recruit Jason Suecof. The feel seems to be less of a heavy metal style that the group had before, and it seems more catchy and mainstream oriented. This will definitely disappoint fans of the group's previous works.
"Overcome" is not a bad record, but it's not that good either. The musicianship is still there, but the overall feel that the band had before seems to have vanished. Approach with caution.
Free Music Review: Not As Good As Their Last 2 Albums
Hit: 3 Stars
In My opinion The Fall of Ideals was all-around excellent, one of the greatest metalcore records ever, right up there with "Alive or Just Breathing" KsE. In My opinion , this one, well, it has some awesome innovative tracks like "Chiron", "Two Weeks", "Forever in Your Hands", and "Relinquish", some uninspired, boring ones like "Undone" (ironic title), "Days Without", one complete turd - the title track, and some in - between like "Before the Damned", "A Song for the Hopeless", "Do Not Obey" or a decent rendition of Nevermore's "Believe in Nothing". The guitar work is a step above the last record but, with few exceptions (the aforementioned 4 tracks with great, creative vocal lines and stellar songwriting), vocals are a step back and so is, for the most part, songwriting, and most songs are formulaic. I miss freshness like the kind that oozed from "Weak Willed" off the last record. The overall feeling is like the one I got with Trivium's "Crusade" and especially last Megadeth- an uneven, undercooked, rushed product that should have been given more time for creation. All three albums sound like the musicians have run out of creativity half-way through. What compounds the disappointment is that the few excellent tracks on "Overcome" are REALLY good. Well, based on new Trivium being 10 times better than "Crusade" I have faith in All That Remains, and, while I won't be purchasing this album, I trust they will truly "overcome" on the next one and, ideally, return to their finest hour- "This Darkened Heart".