What If I Was Nothing
"What If I Was Nothing" is a power ballad by American heavy metal band All That Remains. The song was released as a single from their sixth album, A War You Cannot Win, on September 4, 2013, and a music video was released to YouTube on October 21, 2013. In the U.S., it peaked at number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Background
Vocalist Phil Labonte originally found it a difficult track to lay down. He explained to Loudwire: "When I was in the studio, me and Adam Dutkiewicz were talking when I was doing vocals and stuff. When it comes to singing, I'm a machete, I'm not a scalpel. I'm far better at screaming or yelling in key than I am at soft, tender singing so the song was a struggle to do."“It was cool that we actually got it done," he continued. "There were moments when I thought, 'I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it sound the way I want it to sound.' It was tough, trying to make a machete act like a scalpel." Guitarist Mike Martin also had a big impact on helping create the song.
The song is an example of All That Remains' shift toward a more mainstream, accessible sound, blending their metalcore origins with power ballad sensibilities. This single prominently features clean, melodic singing, and touches upon love and relationships. Labonte stated to The Pulse of Radio that initially not everyone in the band was on board with the song: "There was definitely conflict in the beginning," he said. "There are people that come from, you know, a school of thought that like this is what you're supposed to do and that's what you do. But you either play inside the safe zone or you really push the envelope, and pushing the envelope is a risk. That's the thing about trying new stuff - you're not gonna know when it's gonna, you know, strike a chord with people. You have no idea."
The song is one of the band's best performing commercially, with vocalist Phil Labonte stating that it is the band's biggest song.