All That Remains - ...For We Are Many (2010)Release ID: 5439
All That Remains albums #3, #4, and #5 are what I consider the "perfect transition trilogy". The first 2 albums are just melodeath, while the sixth album and beyond are mostly hard rock coated metalcore. And the 3 albums in the middle are what make a perfect transition from their original sound to what they've become later: The Fall of Ideals (metalcore with some melodeath elements), Overcome (metalcore with a melodic heavy metal twist), and For We Are Many (metalcore with a little more melodic heavy metal/hard rock). Yes, this is the last part of the perfect transition trilogy, For We Are Many, my second favorite All That Remains album (still behind Overcome)!
For We Are Many contains most of what Overcome has, including harsh vocals in verses, clean singing in choruses, tight hitting rhythms in drums and bass, graveling guitar leads and solos, and catchy infectious melodies. But there are some twists and turns in this album. Some songs return to the heavier side of All That Remains, while others still use the mainstream songwriting formula that infected Overcome, and these heavier songs have more in store for merciless (or in my case, merciful) metalheads like me. There are mostly fast songs with jolting rhythms and rapid riffs, and the aggression is dialed up to please some fans of the heavier All That Remains material.
The album opens with "Now Let Them Tremble", an intro that foreshadows the heaviness with sawing guitars and a hammering beat, while Phil Labonte howls the name of the intro. Then the title track comes in with nostalgic Gothenburg chords and deep guttural vocals, bringing back memories from their melodeath past. "The Last Time" is probably the best song of the album and my second favorite by the band, behind "Two Weeks" from Overcome. It really brings their metal sound despite mostly clean vocals and the repetitive chorus. "Some of the People, All of the Time" is basically the evil twin of the "Time" duo, with staccato rhythms, pulsating riffs, one of the many screaming guitar solos of the album, and a big death metal-like breakdown with abyssal gutturals, bringing the song to a brutal end.
The band won't go quietly on this song, "Won't Go Quietly" (convenient name, right?) Guitarist Oli Herbert unleashes a decent solo in the middle that is not at all quiet, but the strange outro is a little out of place, but does not affect the rest of the album. Shining better in aggression is another aptly named track "Aggressive Opposition", with the vocals becoming more like battle cries with work well despite the lyrics being out of character. The song is a little more vocal-focused, as other band members like bassist Jeanne Sagan have more increasing reliance than effort.
"From the Outside" sounds more like a metalcore song that could fit well in The Fall of Ideals. "Dead Wrong" makes another backward turn through history with some melodeath: Fast pummeling drumming, sawing guitar leads, deep resonant bass, and evil sounding death growls. Dissonant yet pleasing! At least there's some clean signing to fit well with the howling and growling. "Faithless" is another particularly outstanding song with some killer shredding. Thundering drumming and merciless pounding rolls in on "Hold On" that once again balances heaviness with melody. "Keepers of Fellow Man" has stronger potential, despite a wordy refrain. The closing track "The Waiting One" is quite a change of pace for both this album and the band. It is probably their first almost entirely clean-sung power ballad with occasional acoustic guitars and Labonte's clean vocals, but there's still some intensity during the solo.
In a nutshell, both fans of Overcome and fans of the first 3 All That Remains fans will both find what they like in a more equal balance, and the album delivers a satisfying brutal force of aggression. The album is basically a metalcore/heavy metal album with occasional melodeath throwbacks that continue displaying the All That Remains trademark of catchy choruses and hammering verses. Awesome, but for me, not as awesome as Overcome! But beware, the hard rock apocalypse will come next album....
Favorites: "For We Are Many", "The Last Time", "Some of the People, All of the Time", "Aggressive Opposition", "Faithless", "Keepers of Fellow Man", "The Waiting One"
