Review Summary: ‘This Is Where It Ends’ succeeds in being a heavy and enjoyable album overall, especially from the viewpoint of an avid All Shall Perish fan, but there’s nothing to really keep you coming back for more.
All Shall Perish are one of the more appreciated deathcore bands around, with 2006’s ‘The Price Of Existence’ being a notable example of how to get it right within the genre. However, they’ve had many ups and downs within their career, with their most recent ‘Awaken The Dreamers’ gaining quite a mixed response from both fans and critics alike. ‘This Is Where It Ends’ is the band’s fourth full-length release, and while they don’t deviate from their personal formula too much, they make it a worthy album to sit alongside their discography.
For the most part, this is classic All Shall Perish bringing the demanding breakdowns and frantic riffs and solo’s; ‘Spineless’ being a good example of the latter. Hermida’s vocals have also improved, his screams and yells becoming more dominant and assertive which works quite favourably in parallel with the music. Unfortunately, both Adam Pierce as well as Mike Tiner seem to have been lost in the crowd, as their contributions on drums and bass respectively, tend to mesh with the rest of the instruments. They’re audible, but you may have to go out of your way a bit to make them so.
It’s safe to say that this is mostly a guitar man’s album, so it’s nice to see it’s used effectively where it counts. There’s also some nice guitar pieces that show signs of maturity, the main riff of ‘The Past Will Haunt Us Both’ as well as the outro to ‘Procession Of Ashes’ both come to mind, but it’s mostly the same stuff you’ve heard before, musically. ‘This Is Where It Ends’ succeeds in being a heavy and enjoyable album overall, especially from the viewpoint of an avid All Shall Perish fan, but there’s nothing to really keep you coming back for more.
Ultimately, the band plays it safe on this one, which is both a blessing and a curse. ‘This Is Where It Ends’ is All Shall Perish at their fullest. They can’t get any heavier or darker, and it’s primarily just them playing their own role. Likely the origin of the conflicting reactions, ‘Awaken The Dreamers’ was in all probability their most experimental release by comparison, so if they can combine the sound of the two, they will definitely have a winner on their hands. All Shall Perish definitely have capable musicianship and creative potential, so let’s just anticipate an even stronger future release and hope ‘This Is Where It Ends’ isn’t meant to be taken literally.
