Live-Metal.Net - Concerts: All That Remains

By JEFF MAKI

Honestly, I wasn't too familiar with All That Remains prior to this show. I had heard a portion of This Darkened Heart and the song “The Deepest Grey” had a few spins in my CD player. Though they are certainly solid, I kind of dismissed them as another metalcore band. But those who haven't heard their new release, The Fall of Ideals, are missing out big time. I heard it in its entirety for the first time on the way to the show and was impressed by the band’s newfound diversity, melding the metalcore style with death and even black metal, while somehow managing to keep it relatively accessible. All That Remains is now in the same league as fellow Massachusetts bands and friends Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall.

February 2007 has been damn cold here on the East Coast—damn cold. And this night was no different at about 15 degrees. It didn't affect attendance at all. Jaxx was sold out before the band arrived at the venue for only the 12th time in the small club’s history. Prior to the show, Live-Metal.net interviewed vocalist Phil Labonte from the comfort of the band's upscale tour bus, which they are using for their first headlining tour. Labonte talked about the band’s success, the new album and his past with Shadows Fall. (He was Shadows Fall’s original frontman.) Read that interview here. Being the grizzled veteran I am, you'd think I'd be able to open a fucking door, but Phil had to let me out of the bus after the interview when I somehow got stuck.

Openers Cellador, The Human Abstract and Misery Signals brought a variety of styles to the stage. Cellador's melodic power metal is slowly gaining momentum and their material is strong if you're into that sort of thing. However, PLEASE get a new sound man, Cellador. This was my second time seeing the band live. The first performance suffered from a muffled sound, but this was far worse. I could hardly hear the drums from where I was standing and there was terrible feedback on multiple occasions. The highlight was the galloping guitar harmony of “Never Again,” which ignited the first circle pits of the night.

The Human Abstract is something of a noisecore band, though with better song structure than most of their contemporaries. They were manic on stage, jumping around while backed by a stellar sound mix. The band boasts impressive technical guitar playing and I'm interested in checking out their release, Nocturne, which is out on Hopeless Records.

Misery Signals is a hardcore/metal band that sounds like it may have been separated at birth from Hatebreed. The band is also similar to Born From Pain but lacks the memorable lyrics and vocals of either of those two bands. They threw out some monstrous riffs and barking vocals, but the material became repetitive after about three songs. The crowd enjoyed the tough guy-hardcore mentality of the band and their performance was high in intensity. A solid performance, just not my type of thing. The coolest thing about this band was the shirt at their merch table sporting the Misfts skull logo and “Mis Sigs” in the Misfits logo font.

All That Remains played to a hungry, insane crowd. Maybe they should have filmed footage for their upcoming DVD here, instead of in Philadelphia as they had planned. Labonte is not at all intimidating, standing no more than 5'7 and weighing 120 pounds soaking wet, but goddamn can he scream, growl and sing. Why Shadows Fall ever got rid of this guy is beyond me, as he has much more range than Brian Fair. But that's all water under the bridge now. Playing a good chunk from their new release, the band delivered the goods on the metalcore anthem “This Calling,” the Morbid Angel-like tone of “The Weak Willed” and the new single, “The Air That I Breathe.”

This band has an excellent guitar player in Oli Herbert, who's playing brings the melodic guitar work of In Flames to mind. The band's overall sound was near perfect, another advantage of being a headlining band. Other than the usual onstage antics, Labonte psyched up the crowd by pronouncing the show was sold out, something that didn't happen last time around when they were a supporting band, according to Labonte. The band raged through their hour-long set until a little after midnight.

A band like All That Remains is a perfect gateway from the mainstream into the underground. The band somehow retains a certain level of accessibility, while remaining undeniably heavy—faster and heavier than many of their peers in fact. All That Remains won me over as a fan and I've been blasting The Fall of Ideals ever since.