All Else Fails: Metal Reveries in Future Tense

All Else Fails is an Edmonton based band who is beginning to gain a good deal of notice within Canada and beyond.  The recent release entitled The Oracle, What Was, Is And Could Have Been is jammed packed with compelling lyrics and music that is as powerful as it is memorable and melodic.  They’ve supported legends such as Fear Factory, Suffocation and Decapitated as well as played a local date at the Vancouver Warped Tour in 2009.  Presenting their own unique sound which features a clash of metal, punk and rock and roll, All Else Fails has even been known to throw an acoustic songs time and again.  Here is a recent interview we conducted with the band to find out more about has been. what is, and what will continue to be All Is Fails…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in All Else Fails, and how long the band has been together.
I am Barrett Klesko, Lead Singer, Guitarist and programmer. We have been active since 2006.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there? A re there any local bands you could recommend?
We are based in St. Albert, AB a suburb of Edmonton. Unfortunately, though there is a lot of great bands, the metal scene is really dead. Very few venues supporting the genre and the nightclub scene seems to be more popular than the live music one at the moment. Bands we love in Edmonton: The Order of Chaos, Submerge the Sky, Tyrant, Death Toll Rising, Enduring the Fall, and literally a hundred other awesome bands!

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title The Oracle, What Was, Is And Could Have Been?
Yes, like the name subtly implies, this album is a look into our past, future and alternate present as a band. The “was” are This World in Flames and Fallen which are re-recordings of songs that are no longer in print; Robots KOLTG!!!, the acoustic World in Flames, and Sludge Factory (the last which is only available online) are the “What could have been” and the rest comprise the “Is”.

Select two songs from the new album and what inspired the lyrics.
Monster eats the Pilot is about religious persecution using the crusades as an example, and The House at the End of the World is about being haunted by the sins of one’s past.

This World Is Flames sounds terrific acoustic! Have you ever played an all acoustic show or would want to do an all acoustic album or EP?
Thanks! That is something that we have talked about a lot, and I actually do expect to do an acoustic EP in the near future, probably within the next couple of years. Once that is out, it is likely that we will do the occasional acoustic appearance.

How does this new album compare to Against The Darkening of The Sky?
It has a very different feel; I think Against has a lot more punk influence in regards to tempos and structure, while this one is more metal, but also deeper and more atmospheric. Lyrically this album is less political as well, though that has not gone away completely. I think this album eclipses the last in terms of both production and performance.

What was it like playing Warped Tour and how many dates did you play?
It was very cool! We just played the one date in Vancouver as it was a prize slot from Ernie Ball. In a lot of ways it was cooler that we won the spot than if we had just been invited to play it, as the prize was a result of almost a year’s worth of fan voting and judging. The event itself was a blast, its cool to just wander around and bullshit with members of bands like Bad Religion and such who I grew up listening to, and to be able to do it without feeling like a “fan” is so much cooler.

What was it like opening for Fear Factory and did you get to hang out with them at all?
We didn’t really have a chance to hang out with them at all, though Byron hung around to watch our set. There were five or six bands on the bill that night, so as you can expect things backstage were a little crazy just from the amount of people there. We did get a chance to hang out with nearly the entire lineup though more recently when we played with Burton and Byron’s other band City of Fire. Very down to earth guys, which is refreshing to see. So many asshole musicians out there! hahaha

What could one expect from a live All Else Fails show?
One hell of a party! We put 100% of ourselves into our live shows, and do it because we love it, that means we are out to have a good time with our fans afterward as well!

Have you ever played in the Los Angeles or OC area or plan to do so in the future?
No we have never been south of the border, but it is certainly in our near future, can’t wait to break into some new audiences!

Any final words of wisdom?
Don’t pee into the wind, especially not with your mouth open.

All Else Fails is…
Barrett Klesko: Vocals, Guitar, Programming
Seedy Mitchell: Bass, Vocals
Mike Sands: Guitar
Tom Wolf: Drummer

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

All Else Fails on Facebook