This Darkened Heart

This Darkened Heart marks a shift in the band's sound, moving away from the melodic death metal sound of Behind Silence and Solitude to more of a metalcore sound. The lyrical themes touch upon inner conflict, emotional struggle, perseverance along with isolation and the light of friends and loved ones. == Reception ==

The album is considered a metalcore classic and has received critical acclaim. Bryan writing for Punk News gave the album a nearly perfect score crediting “The lead guitar work is awesome and the rhythm guitar is slick as well.” He also praised the vocal work but stated they “are stale in comparison to what the true magic of All That Remains has: The solos. Herbert and Martin rip through around eight solos on the album including double solos on several tracks.” Old Guard writing for last rites stated “There’s the presence of strong dual guitar harmonies – an obvious nod to Iron Maiden, along with some choppy melodic thrash parts. With quite an abundance of well placed solos with even some sweeping arpeggios, All That Remains manages to combine even the craftiest of guitarwork with, at times, straight hardcore riffing. The Saw writing for WKNC-FM gave the album a perfect score stating “This Darkened Heart is a perfect example of very early “Death Core;” though, the music (and its composition) is very much Heavy Metal, leaning toward Death Metal. Today, this combination of styles would be considered a band’s way of breaking out of the various “Core” genres. But in 2004, this is the expression of a band forging an entirely new brand of Metal. ==Track listing==

;All That Remains • Philip Labonte – vocals • Oli Herbert – guitar, acoustic guitar • Mike Martin – guitar • Matt Deis – bass, piano • Michael Bartlett – drums ;Additional • Adam Dutkiewicz – production, engineering, mixing • Louie Teran – mastering • Mike D'Antonio – artwork ==References==