All That Remains The Order of Things

It's easy to look down upon All That Remains. From outspoken frontman Philip Labonte, to the band's transition away from melodic death metal into a mainstream-friendly style, the group is a prominent target. Hell, just by writing the first few sentence of this review, hatred will spew forth like an overflowed septic tank. Some may blame the success of singles like "Two Weeks" and "Stand Up," but even without those chart toppers, the abundance of accessible songwriting has been evident for almost a decade now. The Order of Things isn't a throwback or a retrospective -- as a portion of their fan base may desire -- and it won't change the minds of their critics. The imitating growls of the past have been dialed back, with the tough-guy stomp of "No Knock" the lone song with a dominant presence of them. The band have embraced the idea that you can use chugging riffs and machine-gun double bass drumming, while still maintaining a melodic undercurrent. The musical identity hasn't changed, but what has its transformation into a more stringent song structure. "This Probably Won't End Well" is a wise choice as opener; its quaint piano beginning leads to a catchy effort. It screams of "play me on your radio station!," but a memorable guitar solo and chorus elevate the tune. The track also exposes a fascinating new facet of the band; male/female harmonized vocals on almost every song. Bassist Jeanne Sagan gets space to sing alongside Labonte during a few verses and many of the choruses. Sagan and Labonte do this throughout most of the album, and she takes the lead for a line or two on "Pernicious." That vocal chemistry is not the only experimental formula explored on The Order of Things. They throw out an acoustic-driven ballad in "For You," which is about as desperate a grab at radio airplay as anything else on the album. It's not cringeworthy, but does sap the album of momentum. It takes the fiery bursts of metal trailing through "A Reason for Me to Fight" and "Victory Lap" to bring it back. Though the harsh vocals take a supporting role, there is no shortage of aggressive musical moments. The aggression is not tempered even with Labonte's vocals, which you either like or detest at this point. To his credit, he delivers an inspired performance on "Flat Empire," where his low-key approach is effective. That is followed up by a bland role in "Tru-Kvlt-Metal," a middle finger to silence the naysayers that can be ignored. The same can be said whenever the band goes into attitude mode, like "Divide" and "The Greatest Generation," the latter of which feels like a tribute to some forgotten hardcore band from 2001. What may also go ignored by many listeners is the wraparound effect in the opening and closing tracks. The same piano used in the intro to "This Probably Won't End Well" is brought back at the end of the seven-minute "Criticism and Self Realization." The latter song is an invigorating slab of lofty music that comes off as the rousing finish to the album it's supposed to be. It would be interesting to see All That Remains not just bookend a record together, but to tie the whole thing as one piece in the future. All That Remains' seventh record will piss many metal heads off, but honestly, they were going to be ticked off at The Order of Things whether it was a return to melodic death metal or not. The band have lobbied for the appeal of the rock/metal world, as opposed to the small sampling that were checking out Behind Silence and Solitude back in the early ‘00s. A couple of tracks don't hold up, "For You" and "No Knock" being the primary offenders, but the songs heavy on melody and the use of dual vocal harmonies complement the band well. Bottom Line: All That Remains have begun to fit comfortably in their own accessible, melodic, and often generic skin.