The new album “The Order of Things” is the radical seventh studio album by All That Remains. It was revealed by the band that it would be largely melodic and harmonious. This is a major progressive step in a different direction coming from their previous album “A War You Cannot Win.” “The Order of Things” is reminiscent of “A War You Cannot Win,” but remains as one of the biggest transitions from a previous album since their first album to “This Darkened Heart.” “The Order of Things” takes the melodies and vocal styles from the previous two albums “For We are Many” and “A War You Cannot Win” and pushes the eloquence to new extremes. The intricate development of this style has coalesced with the metal edge that is All That Remains in a remarkable new way.
I favor the brutal and relentless compositions from their 2006 album “The Fall of Ideals,” so the question is, do they pull it off? This depends on how one would qualify the previous two albums and how the old edge meets the new eloquence. Vocalist Philip Labonte accomplishes something that I wouldn’t believe he would do: the far more harmonious vocals.
The opening track “This Probably Won’t End Well,” is a powerful testament to the rest of the album. The classic and edgy All the Remains returns with the blast beats, edgy bass and lead guitarist Oli Herbert tears it up with a new meticulous and lengthy melodic riff, but with the new harmonious rhythms coming from Phil’s voice. “This Probably Won’t End Well” holds an arousing balance between the heavy speed metal and the clean vocals. The new extreme “Fiat Empire” is the 10th track that demonstrates the limits of Phil’s voice to higher pitches in an elegant solo toward the end of the track. I was genuinely intoxicated by the harmony and the sequence leading to this duration of the song. The musical progression was a slow and satisfying deep vocal performance that transitions into the faster rhythms and another long Oli riff that leaps into the elegant solo. By this point, my $75 pre-order was paid for if it wasn’t already because the performance was articulate and extraordinary coming from this track alone.
So what about fans of the “The Fall of Ideals” album style? Fortunately, there are some tracks in that style: “No Knock,” “Pernicious” and “Tru-Kvlt-Metal.” “No Knock” is brutal, heavy and slow in all its aspects with plenty of the classic bass drops. “Pernicious” and “Tru-Kvlt-Metal” are the faster, edgy tracks with harsh vocals meant to impress. “No Knock” has seriously deviated from the album’s personal and empowering theme to an extremely dark and ruthless tone, with Phil singing, “It’s fuckin’ easy, see, we blow the front door on one, two, three / Kill everyone inside.” The closing song “Criticism and Self Realization,” is the longest piece on the album, and has the most diverse song style, ranging from heavy breakdowns to more tranquil sequences, that All That Remains has to offer in defining the excellence of this final track.
The final verdict is yes, the band pulled it off miraculously. The new coalescence of melodic harmonies and the classic All That Remains bass drops, blast beats, many Oli riffs and even a drum solo defines the integrity of the album and the direction the band is taking as a whole.Rather than solely keeping their complex and arousing musical tradition, the entirety of the album is sufficiently consistent with their new style, and has moments that will satisfy all fans. In the end, the energy resonating from the album will thrust you further into satisfaction. “The Order of Things” will stand as one of the top albums produced in the history of the band.
Rating: 4 stars
