ALL BUT ONE is a side project from ALESTORM guitarist Mate Bodor, formed in Budapest, Hungary.  Hawkins was in WHEN OUR TIME COMES, Alapi was in ATMOSPHERE, Blass is from HEAVEN SHALL BURN.   With such a random crew of people coming together, I wasn't sure exactly to expect from this release.  I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.  Their debut "One Square" is extremely solid; it doesn't always work well but when it does, it hits all the right notes. Upon hearing the first track, I immediately think of melodic death metal, especially the modern version presented by IN FLAMES.  Seriously, musically speaking, this sounds like it could had been on REROUTE TO REMAIN.  Personally, I like that sound because it's just the right touch of metal and mainstream without going too far into the bland hard rock territory.  This album is anything but that anyway; if I didn't read before hand that members of this band were in ALESTORM and HEAVEN SHALL BURN, I would had never guessed.  I mean that as a compliment because it's a testament to their abilities as musicians to do other types of sounds.

Once the vocals kicked in, I was very confused.  There's no denying Hawkins' talent-he is without a doubt one hell of a singer.  But his style is extremely poppy and has more in common with the clean vocals of bands like A DAY TO REMEMBER than anything in metal.  This isn't a bad thing, but if you aren't prepared, it will offset you for a minute.  Keep an open mind, however, and you'll hear that the metal music goes great with his clean vocals. The second track, "Persistence," is a great example of this-Bodor and Alapi are hammering the heavy riffs down while HAWKINS' melodic singing soars high as the sky. It's a stark contrast but it works so damn well. Musically, the band is the melodic metal bliss with slight pop elements infused, similar to AMARANTHE but without the techno/dance feel.  The opening riffs on "Coloured in Vivid," are the catchiest I've heard this year.   In this song, and all the others, Blass' drumming is punchy yet punishing that bridges the gap between metal and hard rock.  Most of the songs hit extremely fast and heavy, such as "The Reaper, The Sower," and "Little White Lies."  If these tracks had harsh vocals, they would be melodic death metal.

As previously mentioned, the album does have some missteps.  Track five, "Hope Fuel," is a short instrumental that feels extremely out of pace. It straight up kills the flow of the album and it sounds like it should had been the intro or the outro to the tracks.  Most of the tracks could be flesh out more as well—the song writing is definitely geared for a more honest and simple approach to metal but the band displays so much talent here I just feel like they are holding back. The last track "Serenity," is the song that all the other songs could take a page from.  It's long, has multiple parts, and takes the listener on a roller coaster of heavy riffs, melodic vocals, and passages of melodic grandeur.  The last minute of the song is epic with the drums hammering, riffs firing off shot gun blasts, and a melodic vocal chorus sending the song off. Ultimately, this album was a shock to my system but nevertheless it was also a pleasant surprise. I can't say this style is something I would seek out and try to discover in other bands but I'm very glad I got to hear this.