At All Cost Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
After watching their promising first album become an unfortunate casualty of the Combat Records re-launch fiasco (the legendary label imprint was haphazardly revived in 2005, and was already defunct again by mid-2006), Austin, TX's At All Cost took their cause to Century Media and tried to re-launch themselves via 2007's Circle of Demons. And, even though the cover art and band photos involved would suggest a general dirtying up of their sound in order to fit in with their new extreme metal labelmates, the album shows that At All Cost still produce wildly eclectic but oft-times accessible metalcore; replete with high-speed collisions between thrashing riffs and singalong melodies, too many vocal styles (dirty, clean, robotic) to be counted, and oddball time changes and genre-bending departures at every turn. The opening title track is the only one spared any of this funny business, but, ironically, it's also the album's least distinctive offering; so why begrudge the quintet's occasionally questionable forays into non-metal domains, when the ultimate goal is creating something original? Better to open one's mind to their positively awe-inspiring guitar work throughout (exhibiting a surprisingly sensitive touch on the intro to "Let It Rain Death (Blizzard of Snakes)"), clever/risqué integration of keyboard and synthesizers here and there (reminiscent, at times, of former Combat co-victims, Horse the Band), and truly unexpected surprises like the string section coda for "We Won't Give In," and aforementioned robot vocals of "Leaving Forever." Hey, you simply can't please everyone all the time. With innovation comes inevitable polarization, but, as At All Cost would probably tell you: better to risk alienation than wallow in stagnation. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
At All Cost's debut for the revitalized Combat imprint (now distributed through Koch) is one of the more inventive metalcore releases of the past couple of years, blending hard-charging guitar blare with lengthy and varied instrumental passages and alternating Andrew Collins' hoarse scream with some pretty significant vocal manipulations. That's right -- It's Time to Decide might be the first metalcore record to ever feature a vocoder. At first, it's crazy. "Death to Distraction" begins with Collins' my-world-is-ending scream of the title, and the music is already galloping at manic speed -- it's like you opened a soundproof door into At All Cost's very loud, very angry world. But then, just as quickly, there are these pitch-modified vocals, and it just sounds so impossibly strange and wrong over the churning, gritty, swirling instrumentation. But it grows on you -- Collins' ranting scream is as one-dimensional as any vocalist's would be, so the change of pace is nice. By the time you get to "Death to Distraction"'s breakdown and it sounds like a Texas metal take on Daft Punk's "One More Time," you know It's Time to Decide isn't going to be typical. And it's not. "Human Now" is fantastically propulsive black metal with another vocal trick that takes you by surprise; "Right Now" operates more in the hardcore realm until its second half is swallowed by primordial gloom; and "Irony" eases up on the unintelligible screaming so At All Cost can deliver their view on the last 300 years of U.S. foreign policy. ("Irony" is also one of the album's strongest melodic moments.) But At All Cost aren't through busting up the metalcore framing device. "It Burns Black" is a late-album instrumental that's full of slide guitar, unquestionably funky organ, and violin. Wait a minute, is this Giant Sand or At All Cost? When they aren't taking stylistic license, AAC bring the metal with precision. But they understand how limited that sound can be, even at its most loud and frenetic. By getting curious about their vocals and instrumental texture, At All Cost effectively connect metalcore to Mr. Bungle. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
