The Pitch: Formative Massachusetts metalcore band All That Remains drop their latest album via Fearless/R&T, the last to feature founding guitarist Oli after his unfortunate passing. FFO: Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Unearth
What I Like: Well I'm as shocked as you may be...but Victim of the New Disease is a good album. While I have been a massive fan of This Darkened Heart and The Fall Of Ideals since the early 00's, making the loss of Oli all the more tragic, I have had very little positive to say since then. Most albums since then have...sucked. But perhaps the tide is finally turning for All That Remains. Appropriately, the highly aggressive opener "Fuck Love," feels like a personalized message driectly to me. Phil's putting his finger in the air and saying, "You don't believe we've still got it, but I'm here to prove you wrong." There are actually quite a few full tilt tracks like this on the album, and I'm loving it. Even the more melodic, radio-friendly cuts like "Everything's Wrong" reach that perfect Killswitch Engage level of catchiness without tumbling over into complete cheeseball territory. For the most part, anyway. And regardless of the direction, the guitar hooks are stronger than ever. It's rare to hear great metalcore riffs without djent influences these days. RIP Oli.
Critiques: "Alone In The Darkness" and "Just Tell Me Something" push it with the cheese factor. As a one-off, Stone Sour-ish acoustic song to break up the album, the former isn't awful by any means. It's the latter ballad that enters true cringe territory. And speaking of Killswitch Engage, "Misery In Me" has a chorus melody that sounds a bit too close to "All In Good Time" for comfort. Great solo though.
The Verdict: I went into this album expecting a quick eye roll followed by a "Next!" But to my pleasant surprise, I really dig Victim of the New Disease. It's not even close to album of the year material, but It's easily the best thing they've done since The Fall Of Ideals and arguably among the best metalcore I've heard in 2018.
Flight's Fav's: Fuck You, Everything's Wrong, Broken
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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