First Impressions | All That Remains- AntiFragile

All That Remains take another step in the right direction musically and is a fun album for longtime fans

Antifragile is the newest album from Massachusetts metalcore masters All That Remains. Their tenth full length album, first as an independent band, and their first album without legendary guitarist Oli Herbert, who tragically passed away in 2018.

All That Remains have had an interesting career. The band came up in the New England metal scene and their third album, 2005’s The Fall of Ideals made them a centerpiece of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal in the 2000s. By mixing the popular metalcore sound with hard rock motifs such as big choruses and melodic guitar solos, All That Remains were able to stand out in a scene becoming increasingly saturated. The band’s albums from the 2010s onward however were largely released to mixed or negative reception from both critics and the fanbase. On a personal level, I thought that 2018’s Victims of the New Disease was a step in the right direction for the band, and I was curious how they would sound without Oli’s influence.

Now before I talk about the album I just want to address that yes Phil’s political views are pretty divisive and controversial. Let me be crystal clear- this review is not an endorsement of that man’s beliefs or statements. This review is purely on the music for the album, nothing more. With regards to lyrics, I felt they stayed mostly apolitical, I would advise taking them and applying them to your own beliefs.

The album starts out with an absolute ripper called “Divine.” The song opens with a blastbeat for a couple measures with a great yell by Phil that almost feels like an homage to Corey Taylor. The band then slams right into a Eurodeath metal influenced riff that would have been right at home in 2007. The lyrics are pretty typical for the genre, motivational and inspiring words of conquering enemies. What it lacks in originality it makes up in execution. This track is pure throwback for All That Remains in all the best ways and should be able to get back even the fans who have felt let down by their 2010s albums.

Within seconds, you hear the best part of the album- newest member Jason Richardson. Riffs are equal parts frenetic and melodic, solos like the ones in “Kerosene,” “AntiFragile,” and “Let You Go” are face melty and guaranteed to get fanboys like myself bowing to him like Wayne’s World. If the name “Jason Richardson” sounds familiar to you, he’s previously played in other 2010s core bands such as Chelsea Grin and has had a successful solo career. Jason Richardson joined All That Remains on literal weeks notice to fill in 2018 as the band had to start touring shortly after Oli passed away (something I hold them in very high regard for, can’t imagine how difficult it was). To say he’s filling Oli’s shoes would be putting it lightly.

“Forever Cold” is my personal favorite on the album when it comes to lyrics. It’s a cathartic track that seems to be about the widow of Oli Herbert. For those of you who don’t know, Oli’s death was marred by mysterious circumstances that have still been unresolved. I plan on writing an article going more in depth on this story but to quickly summarize, the rest of the band is not too fond of her.

Or I’m reading into it too much and it’s about getting ghosted on Hinge.

Much like the last few albums, this one also contains several songs that sound like the bigger arena sound that bands such as Five Finger Death Punch and I Prevail have cultivated. While I respect the musicianship, some of these songs feel a little too much like the band or a member of management said “I want to get on Octane” during the songwriting process. It’s really unfortunate because several of these songs have great parts in them. “Let You Go” is an example of this. The first half of the song sounds more like Black Veil Brides as opposed to a metalcore band. The breakdown at the end with dropped down guitars is the best part of the song and sounds like a different song.

This would all be fine, but for some reason the production on the clean vocals just is not up to par in my opinion. There’s a weird reverb effect that is a little too noticeable and it’s not loud enough. And it works for some tracks, like the clean chorus of “Kerosene” is the best on the album. But then in other tracks it doesn’t quite hit the mark. “The Piper” literally sounds like it was lifted out of Disturbed’s archives, but Phil’s vocals are not able to cut through the mix properly. Fortunately the song is saved by some great guitar riffage during the breakdown.

I know I was negative in the previous couple paragraphs so now I wanna talk about some standout moments from the album that I enjoyed. Phil rips out the gutturals for the breakdown of the title track “AntiFragile” and its awesome. He also let’s out an eight second fry scream near the end of it that would’ve been right at home on The Fall of Ideals. And then there’s the entirety of the album’s penultimate track “Cut Their Tongues Out.” A stupidly heavy track. I love it when bands have songs that are basically long breakdowns and “Cut Their Tongues Out” checks that box. With regards to the lyrics, I’m going to interpret them to my own personal beliefs as opposed to Mr. Labonte’s.

In short, Antifragile may not be the genre defining watershed moment that The Fall of Ideals was, but it’s a fun 43 minutes of great metalcore musicianship that should please longtime fans of the band.

Score- 7.5/10

FFO- Shadows Fall, Five Finger Death Punch, I Prevail

Favorite Track - “Cut Their Tongues Out”

Listen to the album here