This past summer while at Mayhem Fest, I won front of line access to the meet and greet with All That Remains after their set. Up until that day I had only heard the few songs from the All That Remains catalog that get played everywhere online. I really hadn’t given them much thought before then but after seeing All That Remains perform live I became an instant fan and was ecstatic that I wouldn’t have to wait in line to meet them. The actual line can be seen in beginning of their video for “Forever In your Hands.”
Shortly after that show I found out that All That Remains would be coming through my local area with the Hard Drive Live tour and that there were VIP meet and greet tickets available. Without a second thought I used my mighty plastic card of monetary power and ordered the tickets immediately. Not everyone gets to meet the band so the extra cost was well worth it to now have another incredible piece of Concert memorabilia for my wall.
The thing that draws me to All That Remains is their overall fusion within the band. Most bands you see nowadays the members blend into each other and they all sort of look alike. You don’t get that with All That Remains. Each member of the band has their own distinct persona that when mixed together creates one of the best live experiences a fan will ever witness. There is no image that they are trying to uphold or any specific artistic label that they are aiming for. All That Remains has a simple way of doing things. They produce and play music that they enjoy. As it turns out, a whole lot of people enjoy it as well.
Along with killer guitars and drums, the screaming, growling, and melodic quality of Phil’s voice is amazing and yet I have heard people say Phil isn’t shit without Auto-tune. Those people can also go eat a dick too. It may suck if a CD is overproduced and sounds too perfect but what I really care about is how the band sounds when you see them live. When you are there in the crowd losing your mind, screaming the lyrics and pounding your fist, that is when it matters to me. In that respect, All That Remains definitely comes through and delivers and they have done it for me twice in a row now.
All That Remains is currently co-headlining the Napalm and Noise tour with The Devil Wears Prada in the US in support of Overcome, their fourth studio album that was released back in September of 2008. For dates and venues check out https://www.allthatremainsonline.com/ and you can also catch up with Phil and Mike on Twitter at @philthatremains and @mikemartinatr respectively.
For more live reviews of rock & metal bands from both the US and the UK please keep coming back to the site on a regular basis.
