All That Remains - 'For We Are Many'

Taking cues from their back catalogue and increasing their accessibility with more prevalent emo sensibilities, For We Are Many may find All That Remains joining the ranks of the leaders of popular contemporary heavy music. Ironically enough, that means that they aren’t nearly as heavy or lethal as they once were.

With For We Are Many, All That Remains has the potential to explode. They’ve already broken the mainstream’s surface, but with this release, it’s the right sound at the right time. Not so long ago, the notion of brutal music receiving commercial radio air play, if we can recall from the not so distant past, seemed as likely as a minority becoming president. But times have changed, and so has All That Remains.

Initially standing as American champions of melodic, European-style death metal, the band morphed into a metalcore act as time passed. Since 2008’s Overcome, however, they delved further into an accessible songwriting mode, overflowing with alternative music vocal melodies that are significantly removed from their original melodic death metal format. Come 2010, For We Are Many is a logical extension of Overcome, boasting the best songwriting and sound of the band’s career.

As far as the singing goes, the “good cop/bad cop” metalcore vocals (the melodic vocal/harsh vocal interplay) are evident, and it also represents the band’s entire essence now. Their beefier, heavy segments could appeal to some death metal or hardcore fans (however excessively polished the production may be), and their smooth passages are as emo as a slanted haircut. This stark contrast is equally as biting as that found with their peers in Killswitch Engage.

As talented as their musicians are, it almost seems like they were writing awkward songs in the past intentionally, such was the extent of their meandering, directionless songwriting and riff structures. Their evolution has brought catchy songs and hooks, though they’re definitely hit or miss on For We Are Many.

Indeed, as catchy as they can be now, and in spite of Phil’s distinct, robust voice, All That Remains continue to forward an abundance of generic metalcore trappings, and even a few standard deathcore markings like extended, low death grunts. In spite of the frequency of Phil Labonte’s blistering death metal vocals and the Fear Factory-style start ‘n stop riffs, they’ve actually become less potent in terms of aggressive music. There are pummeling tracks like “Dead Wrong,” a black metal-tinged song harking back to their earlier material, but they’re few and far between For We Are Many’s hummable parts that wouldn’t seem entirely out of place on a Fall Out Boy record.

No, their growing affinity for catchy melodic emo-flavored rock isn’t performed poorly by any measure. It’s just that it’s become so prominent that those specific sections can hardly be called metal at all.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.