All That Remains
“This Darkened Heart”
Prosthetic Records
Massachusetts-based All That Remains has been carving out a niche for themselves in the hardcore scene since 1998. The band’s latest effort, “This Darkened Heart,” (Prosthetic Records) was released today and is certain to keep fans of the bands happy while winning over more listeners in the process. Things can only get better for this band that initially started off as a side project.
Vocalist Philip Labonte formed All That Remains while still singing in the band Shadows Fall. After leaving Shadows Falls, Labonte made All That Remains his main focus. Endless touring and writing finally paid off when the band scored a record contract and released its first album, “Behind Silence and Solitude,” in 2002. Fans in the metal and hardcore community welcomed the new release and the band enjoyed three tours in support of the album, though the band’s original guitarist and bassist left during this time. But Labonte and the rest of the band soldiered on, found new members and prepared tracks for what would become “This Darkened Heart.”
Labonte is an established vocalist and his energy translates well as he wavers from hardcore screaming to angry rumbling throughout the new album. Rounding out the band are guitarists Oli Herbert and Mike Martin, drummer Mike Bartlett and bassist Matthew Deis.
Herbert’s and Martin’s guitar work is the highlight of “Darkened Heart,” as the duo seamlessly trade riffs and solos from track to track. Deis’ bass work is subtle at times, but is almost nonchalantly driving, so much so you would really miss it on tracks like “I Die in Degrees” and “This Darkened Heart,” while Bartlett’s drumming adds a nice backbeat to the proceedings.
The beauty of All That Remains is that the band isn’t pigeon-holed by genre barriers. The album kicks off with acoustic guitars before exploding with rage to open “And Death in My Arms”; the driving force of the closing guitar, bass and drums gives way to hauntingly melodic guitar at the end of “I Die in Degrees”; the instrumental “Regret Not” features a lengthy acoustic opening before steamrolling drums and bass kick in and the guitar riffs become more frenzied  but the track comes full-circle in the end closing out with the acoustic guitars again. And on tracks like “Focus Shall Not Fail,” Labonte’s vocals range from guttural growling to clear harmony.
The band is able to shift gears without losing its edge. As Labonte points out in the band’s press material, “We try to cover lots of ground, but do stuff that is still true to ourselves: we do solos because we like them; we do breakdowns because we like them; we have clean singing because we like it.”
Two tracks really shine on “Darkened Heart”: “The Deepest Gray” and “Passion.” Both feature the band sounding tighter than ever, driving guitars and a catchy backbeat held together by Labonte’s straightforward vocals, a cross between Pantera, Vision of Disorder and In Flames.
