Album Review: All That Remains - The Order Of Things

Singer Phil Labonte only seems to remove one foot from his mouth in order to insert the other, All That Remains’ music often playing second-fiddle to his outspokenness. The Mass-holes largely follow their familiar formula, bridging melodic metalcore and commercialised hard rock a la Five Finger Death Punch. There’s the odd catchy hook, while lead guitarist Oli Herbert proves his worth. Overall it’s safe, contrived and saccharine even; purist-baiting Tru-Kvlt-Metal is not as incisive as it imagines. Labonte proclaims metal isn’t edgy anymore, but musically he certainly isn’t helping.