Album Review – Victim of the New Disease by All That Remains (Razor & Tie)

American metallers, All that Remains, have released their new album, Victim of the New Disease via Razor and Tie Records.

Victim of the New Disease comes in the wake of the terribly tragic loss of founding member and guitarist, Oli Herbert. Oli sadly passed away in October at just 44 years old. Victim of the New Disease was fully recorded by then so this album represents the last album from All That Remains with Oli on it. Originally due for release in 2019, All That Remains pushed the album out earlier in tribute to their fallen brother.

Alongside Oli, All That Remains are Phillip Labonte on lead vocals with Aaron Patrick on bass and backing vocals. On rhythm guitar its Mike Martin and on drums its Jason Costa.

Victim of the New Disease is 10 tracks and around 40 minutes long. It goes without saying that this album is extremely poignant for all metal fans, especially long term fans of All That Remains. With that in mind it isn’t a simple review to write but I am going to try to concentrate on it purely from a musical viewpoint. Despite the tragic event attached to this release, is it any good musically?

One thing that definitely shines through across the whole of Victim of the New Disease is the guitar skills of Oli Herbert. Whether purposely enhanced in the mix, or perhaps it is just a subconscious listening on my behalf, his talent seems to shine through even more brightly on this album. Overall though, while Victim of the New Disease is a good album, it isn’t amazing. There are some amazing tracks on here though. It’s just that there are some boring ones too. Most of those come when the band hit ballad style. Alone in the Darkness is one such. An okay track, well sung and a nice enough melody but nothing really stands out on it. It is very forgettable.

Just Tell Me Something is another that comes and goes leaving little of a mark. This track even has guest vocals from Danny Worsnop (Asking Alexandria) but it does little to remove the bland taste in my mouth. There are a couple that bring a nice mix of metalcore with cleaner sections such as I Meant What I Said which brings clean vocals over excellent drum blasts. It has a nice fiery start with a chunky riff and powerful bass and ends to a decent piano melody. The best of All That Remains on Victim  of a New Disease comes when they get a bit angrier though.

Blood I Spill is a cracking tune with a viciously heavy riff and immense drumming. The vocals come rough and heavy in the verses with a cleaner, anthemic chorus. There is a wicked little Oli solo and loads of melody blended in to what is a straight up metalcore blast. Misery In Me follows a similar structure and probably is my favourite on the album. There is a supremely catchy rhythm to the track, loads of blasting drum sections and a pounding riff. The chorus hooks you in and you can see this one becoming a live favourite. The album closer, and title track, is another shorter but impressive blast of metal and one for the pit. The drums are impressive and the guitar riffs and melody really have impact, one final time.

Victim of the New Disease is a mixed affair. There is impressive instrumentation throughout and the vocals are solid. Lyrically the album seems to deal with mental health and depression which is a great topic and one I am so happy to see getting pushed intpo the limelight by so m nay metal bands at the moment. The only issue here is that there are a couple bland songs, mainly the ballads. When they go heavy though there are some cracking tunes on here though so while not a great album, it is very good.

Victim of the New Disease is out now on all the usual streaming platforms. You can also grab a physical copy from the band here. Keep up to date with All That Remains, especially in regards to what the future holds for the band, at their website, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.