Album Review: All Shall Perish - 'This is Where it Ends'

The band name is assertive, the music's fierce and the range is well-placed. All Shall Perish tick all the proverbial boxes. They are front-runners in their genre not the sad lackeys left to pick up the scraps. The sound is formed around technical stylings but based around giving it a relatable feel.

Studio album number four just feels like a well-timed release. It smacks listeners across the ears at a period where we are hearing some pretty indifferent stuff from heavy musical outfits. So, the time seems right to show what articulate and controlled heavy music sounds like. However, while the potential and possibility comes attached, it is still important to see if the band can make good on this chance.

The definitively and poignantly titled 'This is Where it Ends' is solid, precise but perhaps not the album to render everything else insignificant and inferior. It begins brilliantly with the aggressive and crushing 'Divine Illusion', which is fast, loud and contains brutal riffs before making way for equally outstanding track, 'There Is Nothing Left'. The latter song itself mixes heaviness with a european-styled melody.

However, the album peaks quite early. 'This is Where it Ends' is still a consistently enjoyable release all the way through but the sole brilliance lies in the opening few tracks. Though this should not be mistaken for criticism or a negative endorsement, in fact far from it, it's just taking everything on its own merits, the initial stages are the key points here.

'Embrace the Curse' is a slight throwback to 'The Price of Existence' days. Moreover, the addition of a new lead guitarist (Francesco Artusato) and new drummer (Adam Pierce) has been an effortless transition, with both integrating their individual playing into the ASP fold. Those palm-muted power chords are still there as are the blistering double-kick patterns.

Songs such as 'The Past will Haunt Us Both' and 'My Retaliation' keep that trademark menace in tact while 'Royalty in Exile' begins with more harmony. Additionally, 'Rebirth' is interesting through the agency of a moody instrumental opening.

'This is Where it Ends' is around the mark and that's about good enough. Probably had the potential to be a bit more but when you are capable musicians like All Shall Perish clearly are then the judgement becomes more heightened.

All Shall Perish's respectable image remains in tact after 'This is Where it Ends' plays out. It's bound by clear direction and more than adequate musical proficiency. Studio album number four is a heavy dose of contemporary bay area metal, however it probably equals predecessor 'Awaken the Dreamers' instead of bettering it.

1. Divine Illusion
2. There Is Nothing Left
3. Procession of Ashes
4. Pure Evil
5. Embrace The Curse
6. Spineless
7. Past Will Haunt Us Both
8. Royalty Into Exile
9. My Retaliation
10. Rebirth
11. Death Plague
12. In This Life of Pain