Review Summary: At All Cost return with a new album and earn the right to a second chance
At All Cost are a metalcore band from Austin, Texas, whose newest album “Circle of Demons” is a huge step up from their mediocre debut “Its Time to Decide.” There is no doubt that Circle of Demons is mainly metalcore, but the album pulls from virtually every metal subgenre there is; from thrash to power. The only other current band I can think of that uses such a diverse style of metal is Between the Buried and Me. Although At All Cost are nowhere as good as BTBAM, they use all of those elements to create a very enjoyable metal album.
Andrew Collins, the vocalist/keyboardist shows some admirable vocal work. He has a pretty unique scream for the scene and he’s not half-bad as a clean singer either. There is the standard scream that he has, but he also sometimes makes use of a thrashier shout as made evident in the title track, Circle of Demons. There are the dreaded clean sing-a-long choruses plaguing most of today’s metalcore, but as I said, he is a pretty good singer with the almost poppy vocal stylings of someone like Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die; and some of the melodies are pretty damn catchy. Plus, the use of a vocorder is there a lot of the time to make things a little more interesting (See: Leaving Forever). Also, keyboard and electronics have a much higher presence on this album than the last. We Won’t Give In is the best evidence of this, with power/progressive metal-style strings making up the main riff and there is even a solo thrown into the mix.
The guitar work of Trey Ramirez and Michael Carrigan is first-rate by today’s standards. If I remember correctly from when I saw them live a couple years ago, Michael is the shredder, and he is pretty good at what he does. There are plenty of fast runs and sweeped arpeggio solos spread out throughout the album. However, there is one part of the album to complain about. There is a slow “jam” section at the end of “Let it Rain Death” which I feel is totally unnecessary. The soloing sounds awkward and it completely ruins the flow of the album. The rhythm guitar isn’t anything overly-technical but I would say it is above-average quality as there are plenty well-written riffs and I rarely got bored while listening.
The bass playing of Bobby Andrews is at times impressive, but it is pretty much buried under the rhythm guitar. Drummer Jon Oswald also doesn’t exactly steal the spotlight, but he gets the job done.
Overall, Circle of Demons was a pleasant surprise from a band that was previously just humdrum. The mixing of clean and harsh vocals works out very well for them, moreso than most other bands. The songwriting doesn’t get too repetitive, and the cleverly-penned lyrics are actually worth reading. I would recommend this for anyone who is into metal or hardcore. And if you liked their first album, you should love this one; or even if you didn't, you should still check this out
Recommended Tracks:
Ride the Storm
We Won’t Give In
Leaving Forever
