ABC's of Reviewing Week 16: All Shall Perish Part 2

 
Jesus Christ, what the fuck did you guys do to the country? 

I leave for two months and y'all start rioting in the streets and burning shit to the ground because some shitty cop killed an amateur pornstar?

This shit is going downhill so hard, that even my old job got busted up (the one from the last few journal entries I posted). And to be honest, I ain't even that mad.

My shitlist has three names on it and they all belong to my ex-manager.
I have a feeling someone else might feel the same way.

But honestly, enough about that, you come here to escape from the dumpster fire we call reality.

 Maybe if we ignore it, it will put itself out. Let's try that for a little while.

When we last left off, we were looking at All Shall Perish's second album The Price of Existence. The songs were kinda tedious and most of them sounded the same. This time we're tackling their last album to date, This Is Where It Ends.

Divine Illusion

© Nuclear Blast Records

It's pretty hard to talk bad about any of the songs on this album because I like it so much. This song in particular reminds me of Unhallowed-era Black Dahlia Murder with the way Eddie keeps switching from screaming to growling. As I was saying in the last review, All Shall Perish were pretty much to first bands to sound like this, and to write about this stuff (in their genre). Nowadays, this song sounds like standard deathcore fanfare so I won't award it too many points. But you do have to remember that for a while All Shall Perish was the embodiment of deathcore.

There Is Nothing Left

This is a good song. When Eddie screams he sounds like a helpless woman and a monster at the same time. This is one of those times when my words cannot describe how good the song sounds. The guitar tone is distinct. The bass is chugging and pounding along with the drums. This track is the equivalent of an aural juggernaut. You can feel it as you listen to it. And the lyrics are pretty decent, on top of all that. 

Procession of Ashes

This track continues that unstoppable feeling from "There Is Nothing Left". It feels like that track's melancholic continuation. Eddie is still screaming, but this time he's harmonizing with a choir (or whatever you call that effect.) I'm honestly not afraid to say that this track is one of the best in the entire genre. 

A Pure Evil

I don't have much to say about this song. Eddie sounds purely evil. Those guitar sweeps are evil. In fact, the guitarist is pretty damn good on this song. His playing is one of the best parts of this track. Especially the dual guitar solo towards the end. I vowed to stop reading the lyrics to the songs after the last review, so I don't know what this song is about. But goddamnit they 100% captured that apocalyptic atmosphere.

Embrace the Curse

I've got to commend these boys. If I had to pick one word to sum up the way this album sounds, its fucking evil. However, I'm not going to pull any punches here. This one really just sounds like 'A Pure Evil Part 2.' I'm not criticizing the band for sounding like themselves, I'm criticizing them for not switching it up enough. I honestly can't tell the difference between these two songs.

Spineless

I like this track. It feels a lot more melodic than the last couple of tracks. The licks have a weird upbeat rhythm to them that contrasts with the heavy vocals. It feels really invocative of early At the Gates. Which is definitely a plus in my book. And I know I've said it before but I love the way Eddie harmonizes with the gang vocals towards the end. I'm a sucker for harmony.

The Past Will Haunt Us Both

Well, I spoke too soon on this album. This song is amazing. This song exhibits that distinct All Shall Perish sound from the last two albums. The distinct guitar tone. The somber lyrics and sad-sounding yet angry vocals. Jesus Christ, these guys can blow it out of the water when they want to.

Royalty Into Exile

Damn. This is hands down one of their best songs. Everything is on point. Eddie's switching it up from screaming to growling to shrieking to growling. The chugging and drumming are relentless. The breakdown is fucking brutal. This is a good ass song. I even found myself headbanging and turning up the volume on this one. Something I don't think I've pointed out yet is how the guitarist will riff in the background and it will sound just distinctive enough from the rest of the song to stick out but melodic enough not to sound out of place. It's almost like he came in afterward and jammed to the song instead of actually laying everything down with the rest of the guys. I've noticed that on a good bit of their songs.

My Retaliation

This is by far the angriest song on the record. The track opens with Eddie screaming "I hope to see you fucking die!" So you already know you're in for a ride from the first few seconds. To put it into perspective, this song sounds a lot like Hatebreed. It's motherfucking angry. Eddie talks during the breakdown. He's screaming at the top of his lungs. I don't know if I prefer the cringe-worthy political lyrics or if I'm more of a fan of these angry Taylor Swift ballads. It's definitely pretty funny to picture Eddie writing these songs. 

"That bitch said she'd come to the tour bus, but now she's kissing some scene kid. I'm going to write a song about this."

Rebirth

This song really highlights the range that this band has. Eddie went from screaming pretty coherently in the intro to shrieking pretty quickly. That takes a shitton of control. And I know I was complaining just three songs ago. I know I've complimented Eddie thirty times. But how many vocalists do you know of that will scream in so many different styles? And all in one song, on top of that? We've looked at albums where the vocalist sang in just one voice the entire time. This fucker screamed in four distinct styles in just five minutes. I can 100% see why Eddie was chosen as the successor for Mitch Luker in Suicide Silence.

The Death Plague

I don't really like the instrumentation on this one but once again Eddie is going insane with his vocals. At one point he starts damn near pig squealing. Towards the end, he starts yelling. If there's a Man of a Thousand Screams it's Eddie Hermida. This motherfucker can sound like five other bands. It makes 100% sense why they made him fuck off All Shall Perish until he was successful with Suicide Silence. All Shall Perish would've wound up blowing Suicide out of the fucking water. Imagine if Eddie had done another All Shall Perish record after You Can't Stop Me. I guarantee Suicide Silence probably would've faded off.

In This Life of Pain

That piano part was beautiful. I can't figure out which of the members played it. The song after it is okay. It's the only song on the record that features any sort of clean singing. And I find it hilarious that those few words are "You fucking disgust me." That's very All Shall Perish.

Nobleza En Exilo

My version features the Spanish language version of Royalty in Exile. And it really highlights how fucking good that song is. Because of course it doesn't rhyme anymore and some of the verses don't fit where they're supposed to. And it still sounds pretty decent. I can't take it seriously though. I think this is what you have to sing to summon whatever demon provides Taco Bell with their food. I respect Eddie for repping his country though.

Surprise! You're Dead!

It takes some big balls to cover Faith No More. It takes even bigger talent to cover them and damn near make a better song than the original. And be honest. If you didn't know Faith No More (Hell, maybe you don't. Welcome to life, brother.) There ain't many people that could do that laugh and not sound like a complete crackhead. If there ain't a single other song on this album that you liked, then you gotta commend it for having this bomb-ass cover. Take notes Five Finger Death Punch.

What Do I Think?

All Shall Perish is a good fucking band hands down. I'm most certainly going to check out their record Awaken the Dreamers. I'm pretty sure it will show the transition that happened between their second album and this one. Because this album is tons better. 

But all in all, I fuck with this band. They have a message. They have a distinctive sound. They have an insanely talented frontman in Eddie Hermida. I honestly can't wait for his stint with Suicide Silence to take a little pause so this band can resume making music. 

What's Next?

It seems like these song reviews were the only thing holding the world together.  I stopped writing them in January, and then a deadly Chinese virus popped up out of nowhere. I took another break in March and shit has been going downhill ever since. So, I'm bringing the reviews back. Y'all don't have to worry about pandemics and riots over dead pornstars any more. I'll be your vaccine. I'll be your porn star.

Next time I'm around these parts we'll be taking a look at -

Holy shit!



Next time. We'll be taking a look at my favorite band, All That Remains! And that's going to be a seven parter! Strap your asses in for an onslaught of the (second) best metalcore band on this Earth!

Peace out. And don't burn your city down.



All That Remains Picture © 2019 Whatever That Watermark in the Corner Says;  Just Don't Sue Me
Eddie Hermida Picture © 2014 MetalsPeak
George Floyd Pictures © 2017 The Habib Show
Looted Jimmy John's Picture © 2020 Dakota Piecinsky