All Shall Perish - This Is Where It Ends

All Shall Perish
This Is Where It Ends
Nuclear Blast Records/Riot! Entertainment/Warner Music Australia

With the release of their first two albums (2003’s ‘Hate.Malice.Revenge’ and 2006’s ‘The Price Of Existence’), Oakland (California, U.S.) outfit All Shall Perish firmly established themselves as one brutal deathcore act to be reckoned with. But with the release of their third album ‘Awaken The Dreamers’ (2008), All Shall Perish showed that they weren’t interested in simply leading the deathcore scene, but rather pushing their established sound into areas previously unheard of before; going beyond the genres rigid and pre-determined sounds. While some fans were a little disappointed with the melodic slant and decidedly more experimental route the band took, many hailed their willingness to branch out and distance themselves from the endless clones attempting to mimic the band’s proven formula for success.
In the three years since the release of their last album, All Shall Perish have continually revamped their line-up, with vocalist Hernan Hermida, guitarist Beniko Orum and bassist Mike Tiner the only remaining members to survive from the line-up. Joining the trio is guitarist Francesco Artusato (Who is also a member of Hiss Of Atrocities, and who released an instrumental solo album under the name of The Francesco Artusato Project earlier this year) and Sea Of Treachery drummer Adam Pierce, who make their recording debut with All Shall Perish on their fourth full-length effort ‘This Is Where It Ends’.
Given the change of guard within the band, I was interested to see which path All Shall Perish would take with their new release, and see just how much the band’s sound would change with the addition of new members. And after giving the album a thorough listen, it’s clear that with ‘This Is Where It Ends’, All Shall Perish have managed to produce a release that caters to both older and newer fans, without losing any of their trademark sound in the process.
The opening track ‘Divine Illusion’ (Which is also the first single lifted from the album) provides a crushing start to the album, and sees the band returning to their earlier savage and urgent/speedier sound, but with the technical precision that can only come from years in the game. Artusato certainly contributes to the band’s sound with some impressive progressive tinged lead work, while the diverse efforts from Hermida only adds to the overall aggression of the band in full attack mode.
The melodic edge on ‘There Is Nothing Left’ brings to mind the more accessible direction the band headed with their former release, while the slower tempo, clean lead work and brief appearance of clean vocals on ‘Procession Of Ashes’ showcases the band’s willingness to experiment a little, without compromising on the sound that was established on their first two releases.
From here, the band alternate between sounds of the past (‘A Pure Evil’, ‘Embrace The Curse’, ‘My Retaliation’, ‘Rebirth’ and ‘The Death Plague’ – which features a guest vocal appearance from ex-Despised Icon vocalist Alexandre Erian), and their more experimental and melodic recent past (The lengthy and magnificent ‘The Past Will Haunt Us Both’, ‘Royalty Into Exile’ and the piano introduced closer ‘In This Life Of Pain’), which provides plenty of differing elements to please fans of All Shall Perish’s various eras.
Despite coming across as a little bloated by the tail end (At fifty-four minutes, the album is a tad on the long side of things), ‘This Is Where It Ends’ is another stellar effort from the deathcore outfit, and the kind of release that will once again place them well ahead of the imitators.

For more information on All Shall Perish, check out - http://www.allshallperish.com/

© Justin Donnelly