Artist / Band

All Else Fails

Origin Edmonton, Alberta, 🇨🇦

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Biography

All Else Fails is a metalcore band from Edmonton, Alberta, built around the writing, vocals, and guitar work of Barrett Klesko. Emerging in the mid-2000s, the group developed a sound that combines aggressive metalcore riffing, melodic and harsh vocal contrasts, progressive arrangements, symphonic elements, industrial textures, and dark lyrical themes.

The band’s early lineup included Barrett Klesko on vocals and guitars, Seedy Mitchell on bass and vocals, Mike Sands on guitar, and Tom Wolf on drums. This version of the group recorded The Oracle, released in 2011 on Suicidal Bride Records. Recorded at Fadelack Studios United in the summer of 2010, the album was produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Klesko. It established many of the elements that would define the band’s approach: dramatic arrangements, heavy guitar work, conceptual songwriting, and a willingness to blend metalcore with orchestral and atmospheric textures.

All Else Fails continued to evolve through the early 2010s. By 2012, the lineup featured Klesko, Seedy Mitchell, Mike Sands, and drummer Dex Merrum. In 2013, the band released Fucktropolis through Suicidal Bride Records, with a lineup of Klesko, Mitchell, Sands, and Shane Tym. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Alex Wilkinson at Signals Audio, the five-track EP was presented as one of the band’s heaviest and most diverse releases to that point.

The Forever Lie followed in 2016, featuring Barrett Klesko on vocals and guitar, Mike Sands on guitar, Mike Genereux on bass and vocals, and Ryan Biggs on drums. Produced by Klesko, engineered by Alex Wilkinson, and mixed and mastered by Taylor Gee, the release continued the band’s movement toward more expansive and narrative-driven material. Its artwork by Simon Clark matched the album’s apocalyptic tone, while the songwriting credits reflected both Klesko’s central role and the collaborative input of Sands across several tracks.

In 2018, All Else Fails issued a release combining two new songs with five previously digitally unreleased B-sides from The Forever Lie. Produced and engineered by Klesko, mixed and mastered by Bevin Booth, and featuring artwork by Danny Perdana, it served as a bridge between the band’s earlier catalogue and the heavier, more personal direction that would follow.

By 2022, All Else Fails consisted of Barrett Klesko on vocals and guitar, John Saturley on guitar, Coco Lee on bass and vocals, and Nelson Collins-Lee on drums. This lineup released The Incident at Black Lake on September 30, 2022. Produced by the band and mixed and engineered by Bevin Booth, the four-song EP pushed the group into darker, heavier, and more technically layered territory. Across I, Defiler, Devour the Sun, Flesh /Excess /Wealth, and Crystal Mountain, the band combined metalcore, progressive metal, symphonic atmosphere, and industrial-leaning textures into one of its most intense releases.

Over the course of its career, All Else Fails has remained closely tied to Edmonton’s heavy music community while building a catalogue marked by emotional weight, ambitious arrangements, and a strong independent work ethic. Its releases show a band continually reshaping its sound without abandoning the core elements of aggression, melody, atmosphere, and personal expression.

-Robert Williston