All That Remains is one of the few more modern hard rock acts that actually show some promise and hope. Their newest release The Fall of Ideals shows their power, which lies in angst-ridden odes pounding away at various aspects of life.
In terms of the music it is essentially a Pantera-based groove metal. The only difference is that it throws Shadow Falls-based Speed and Slayer-based dissonance that just tears away at the minds of their listeners. At the end of the album, it leaves the listener wondering what comes next. The problem with the album musically is that it is a tad too short and it leaves the listener wondering “Why not just add another song?” Its intensity just pulls you into the work.
Lyrically it isn’t the strongest or best thing out there. There are some good things on the album. “This Calling” is an angst-ridden song relating to loneliness and always hearing what you need just around the corner always evading you; “Not Alone” sort of follows up on it. It essentially gives the idea that life is screwed up, but still there is nothing keeping you from going on if you find the right thing.
Sadly most of the rest of the album is close to being too clichÃ. All in all, lyrically there are about five out of 11 good songs.
Outside of the slight problem with most of the songs being a little too clichÃ, there really isn’t that much to complain about if you like the hard rock / heavy metal genre. It is a dark but absolutely gorgeous musical work. It is very well worth the money.
There are sadly a couple of issues that could be easily fixed, but as stated earlier it still is worth the time and money spent in listening to it.