Review Summary: This Darkened Heart” is heavy enough to please any metal head, and instrumentally good enough to please any real fan of music. Definitely an album I would recommend for pretty much anyone who wants to either expand their music choice to metal core or me
As I wiped my sweaty palms I gripped my friend’s 360 controller questioning my confidence in myself as I prepared to play a bonus track I’ve never even heard of on the game Guitar Hero II. The track was called “Six” by All That Remains, and after playing it (quite poorly I might add) and hearing it I began to become hooked on All That Remains. Now metal core was a very tough genre for me to handle, mainly because of the vocal style. I gave All That Remains a shot and downloaded “The Fall of Ideals” their latest release. I was very happy with the results, so much so I downloaded their sophomore album “This Darkened Heart”. Despite the cheesy title and skepticism I still had about the metal core genre this album was a real pleasant surprise for me, as well as “The Fall of Ideals”.
“This Darkened Heart” was released in 2004 and at a time where All That Remains had added guitarist Mike Martin. The album landed All That Remains to touring with the likes of GWAR, Arch Enemy, The Crown, and Darkest Hour. “This Darkened Heart” started to solidify All That Remains’ place towards the top of the metal core genre, and was a great sophomore release, for various reasons. Those would include the instrumental prowess of the album, the mix of melodic and death metal-like vocals and the overall number of great tracks on the album.
Aside from those positives there are some negatives to the album. Obviously for some trying to get into All That Remains, their vocal style is one thing that might be too tough for some to handle. Early and often ex-Shadows Fall vocalist Phil Labonte shows off his bellowing grunts and the rest of the band follows him up with ear piercing screams. This kind of vocal style can get very irritating at times, and does lessen the quality of the overall sound. Creativity is lacking a bit too when it comes to All That Remains, mainly every track is a 3-5 minute heart attack of nonstop hard pounding drums, crunching guitar riffs, solos, and screams. Except for an occasional acoustic guitar intro (a good example would be the beginning of “Regret Not”) every track is very similar. For some the pure heaviness of the album could be too much, but on the other hand some listeners (like myself) might enjoy that aspect of the album. Depending on your taste in music those are some of the negatives of “This Darkened Heart”.
Now we have the many positives of the album. The guitars are what really jumped out at me, at least after I got over the grunts and yells. Every song has an extremely catchy guitar riff either at one particular point in the song, or throughout. A great example would be “Focus Should Not Fail”. A little after halfway through the song the bass and guitar bellow and screech in unison, with a little guitar solo in the background. This is what takes your attention away from almost a minute of the repeated grunted verse “No more apologies no more mistakes” which would usually be heard over the guitar part and not sound very good. What also makes the guitars so good is the consistency, with some bands one or two songs will have a few catchy guitar hooks to keep you interested, or get your attention during a low point in the song but with All That Remains its almost the opposite. They keep up the unrelenting lighting quick guitar riffs to keep the listener interested. Soloing is also a very strong point in All That Remains’ guitar work. In many tracks the lead guitarist Oli Herbert masterfully throws down a solo along with the roaring guitars in the background which sounds two times better than just one guitar solo alone. This is apparent towards the middle and ending of “I Die in Degrees”, making the 3:30 minute track memorable and full of exceptional guitar work. The guitar work overall on “This Darkened Heart” is nearly masterful to say the least. Just the raw untapped talent exhibited from both the guitarists Herbert and Martin throughout “This Darkened Heart” is definitely one of the key components to All That Remains’ sound and a huge positive.
The next two positives of All That Remains’ sound and “This Darkened Heart” are the bass and drums. The bassist Danny Egan and the drummer Michael Bartlett add the sheer heaviness that could be heavy enough to be considered a death metal type of sound to All That Remains’ play. The common misconception is that the bassist is merely useless, and barely audible, but with Egan and All That Remains it’s the opposite. Egan headlines the bulk of the heaviness during each and every verse and chorus. Along side of the guitars Egan’s bass synchronizes heavy with catchy to make a great sounding combination throughout all of “This Darkened Heart”. Along with Egan, the drummer Bartlett also helps add that hard pounding heavy atmosphere. His double bass might not be overpowering, but it doesn’t have to be. With the sound focused mainly on the guitars Bartlett does his job in the background. His lightning quick double bass drum barely ever takes time to stop at any point during “This Darkened Heart”. Bartlett doesn’t really shine because his play is mostly overshadowed, but his talent does not go unnoticed, and is very audible and enjoyable throughout the album.
The last thing that could be considered a doubled-edged sword would be the vocals for All That Remains. Labonte may have a rough vocal style, but at times his grunts will let up some and he will sing somewhat melodically. In “The Deepest Gray” he sings the chorus more melodically while the rhythm vocalists add the high pitched scream into the background. On “The Fall of Ideals” Labonte uses that softer more melodic vocal style more often than in “This Darkened Heart”, but he started it very effectively during this album. When it comes down to the screeches and grunts it’s not so bad after a few listens, and isn’t so bad when you take the great instrumental play into consideration.
So there is the positives and negatives to “This Darkened Heart”. Overall…so maybe the vocals at first sound like pouring grounded up nails into your ears, so what if every song doesn’t change very much. This album has many great positives to it, such as instrumentally, consistency, and just more great songs than bad or okay. “This Darkened Heart” is heavy enough to please any metal head, instrumentally good enough to please any real fan of music, and heavy yet catchy enough to get anyone to head bang whether it is a lot or a little. Definitely an album I would recommend for pretty much anyone who wants to either expand their music choice to metal core or metal in general.
This Message Edited On 06.11.07
This Message Edited On 06.13.07
