Hailing from Springfield, Massachusetts, All That Remains has been creating their version of melodic death/metalcore since the release of Behind Silence and Solitude in 2002. Since then, All That Remains has had great success with their following two releases, This Darkened Heart and The Fall of Ideals. Unfortunately, as it seems, with success comes mediocrity with their fourth release Overcome.

When I threw in Overcome I was very pleased with the start of the lead track, Before The Damned. It starts off with a killer Testament vibe. Sadly, that only lasts about 56 seconds until the whiny clean vocals begin. This is par for the course on about every song on this album; splashes of aggression mixed with two parts lame whininess and topped off with a heavy dose of commercialism. The riffs are the same generic exchange of fast chords and uninspired melodic rips that have plagued this sub-genre for the last ten years. Just about the only thing I like about the album is the soloing, which is the type of performance I was hoping for with the rest of the album.

I should mention the cover of one of Nevermore’s Believe In Nothing. Even though it is not my favorite Nevermore song, after listening to this watered down version with its whiny vocals and uninspired musicianship it makes the original sound incredibly powerful. I have no idea what they were thinking in covering this song.

After listening to Overcome I went back and listened to all their previous releases and realized they have been diving in this pool of mediocrity for some time now. I think that All That Remains, after their first release, could have taken their music by the horns and started creating trends instead of following them.

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