Better Noise Music
Out now
L.A rock outfit All Good Things tick all of the boxes for a successful radio rock band.
Catchy as fuck hooks, harmonies to melt your heart, choruses that could launch a meteor and sing-a-long anthems that remain stuck in your head hours after they have faded from the stereo.
AND they know how to rock.
Hard.
Combining electronics, rap elements and pop undertones with moments of hard rock mayhem, All Good Things have struck that balance between being a mainstream band yet still being able to connect with the musical outcasts.
Since breaking through with lead single For The Glory featuring Hollywood Undead – which recently gave the band their first #1 US rock radio hit – All Good Things have continued to tick the right boxes, recently releasing The Comeback featuring Craig Mabbitt from Escape The Fate.
These two songs are the backbone for the recently released album A Hope In Hell, which has seen All Good Things selected to support legendary outfit P.O.D on an extensive run of dates across the U.S.
Almost every song on A Hope In Hell feels like yet another chance to show off the musical precision served up by All Good Things, mixing cinematic layered atmospherics with stadium sized rock anthems that are tailor made for stadium production.
Opener Kingdom sets the tone for the rest of the album, starting with an industrial style intro before expanding into cinematic territory, then rapidly changing gears into hard rock breakdowns and even hardcore metal.
It is the perfect song to introduce you to the wall of music that is All Good Things and lays the foundations for what is to come.
Normally when I hear a ballad within the first three songs of an album I reach for the forward button almost subconsciously, but for some reason this time I chose to let Hold On continue, as much in respect for the confidence of the band in throwing a ballad up so early and partly because the vocals of Dan Murphy are difficult to override.
We are only two songs deep, and already he has sung highs, lows, cleans, harsh vocals and harmonies that could melt butter. While his vocal prowess is definitely a feature of All Good Things and does get a fair amount of (deserved) attention on A Hope In Hell, it is never overused or painfully dominant.
In fact, every track on the album has that stadium/arena feel and feels like they would be lost on any stereo that doesn’t have surround sound at the bare minimum.
You could close your eyes and almost feel like you are in the middle of a 20,000 strong crowd during songs like For The Glory and Sirens, while Undefeated showcases rap inspired vocals over a cascading composition that takes you on a music journey throughout.
Push Me Down is one of the highlights, featuring moments of harmonious bliss decimated by face melting breakdowns and screams that showcase everything All Good Things have to offer musically.
Machines conjures a sonic landscape of desolation, building in tempo and intensity before using moments of sporadic silence that accentuate the overall feel of the music.
The Comeback quickly bursts to life, with Mabbitt clawing and screaming in selected moments and adding another dimension to an already anthemic single. The song barrels along at a building pace before hurtling towards an unexpectedly heavy conclusion that exemplifies the true nature of A Hope In Hell.
While on the surface being an accessible and highly infectious slab of meat and potatoes rock and roll, there is more simmering below the surface.
Much more.
