"I think it is safe to say that All That Remains is a metalcore band," says Philip Labonte, All That Remains' singer. "We try to cover lots of ground, but do stuff that is still true to ourselves: we do solos because we like them; we do breakdowns because we like them; we have clean singing because we like it. We please ourselves first."

All That Remains are lucky. Some bands please themselves at the expense of a potential audience, while others strive to please an audience first and end up lamenting their own sound. In the case of this Massachusetts-based quintet, writing and performing their own brand of heavy music has taken them far and won them widespread acclaim.

This Darkened Heart, All That Remains' second album, showcases a kinetic sound drifting seamlessly between melody and relentless aggression. The additions of Mike Martin on guitar and Matt Deis on bass have tightened the unit and pushed them into more technically challenging material - their melodies capture our minds while their rhythms smash our bodies as if they were porcelain.

Produced by Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage, From Autumn To Ashes, Norma Jean) at Zing Studios, This Darkened Heart is a dynamic testament to metal's ever-increasing diversity: acoustic passages and clean vocals intertwine with blast beats, screaming and all-out thrash assaults.

Labonte formed All That Remains in 1998 while still singing for Shadows Fall. After leaving Shadows Fall, he committed himself to All That Remains. The group played shows and recorded a demo, which landed them a deal with Prosthetic Records. The band's debut album, Behind Silence And Solitude, was released in March 2002, prompting DigitalMetal.com to hail the group as "one of the premier melodic death metal acts this side of the Atlantic."

Since the release of the first album, All That Remains have toured the United States three times, including tours with The Crown and Darkest Hour.

"We are pretty happy with what we have done so far, but we still have so far to go," says Labonte. "There are so many things that we all dreamed about when we were kids and started playing this music. The way heavy music is going now a lot of them can be achieved. So to get a record deal was a dream come true, to be able to put out more than one disc is a dream come true