All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence (2006)
I think it’s evidence how quickly deathcore bores the **** out of me that I keep forgetting to post reviews for Deathcore Month, even though these reviews have been pre-written and are sitting in a folder on my computer. I must put in minimal effort to keep this going and I can still barely be bothered. Anyways...
Heard of these dudes, but never listened to them. They're certainly ****ing intense. I'm also used to a level of restraint in even the most brutal deathcore bands, but these guys sound just plain chaotic. They come across as just as much of a deathgrind band as a death-metal-meets-beatdown-hardcore one: blinding blast beat sections become mid-paced breakdowns, with some surprisingly melodic solos thrown in to really make this album more varied than 90% of their peers. I can see where Despised Icon got much of their inspiration (though they clearly watered the formula down for mass consumption).
This isn't good for deathcore, this is just good. And miles away from any stereotypes.
Alright, about halfway through and I'm kind of fading. There's a lot of what sounds to me like tech death, and I can only listen to so much technical death metal before my attention span starts to revolt and refuses to differentiate one song from another. Maybe the band actually is repetitive and I’m just now noticing, but either way all the songs sound the same and this album is starting to outstay its welcome.
To be honest, if this were just a death metal album I think I would have dismissed it much earlier, as I would have recognized it for the technical death metal album that it was, and not been "pleasantly surprised" at it not sounding like stereotypical deathcore. The constant changes in tempo and whatnot were fun at first, but now they're just exhausting and boring.
I'd honestly rather be listening to Bring Me the Horizon. Thank god Despised Icon watered this down for mass consumption.