End Of The Year Candidate: All Shall Perish - “The Price Of Existence”

When I heard the mp3s offered up by All Shall Perish for their new album “The Price Of Existnce”, I thought at first that it sounded like they had essentially improved upon what they had done on their previous album “Hate.Malice.Revenge”. I was actually surprised in a good way that “The Price Of Existence” not only improves upon what All Shall Perish has already done, but the other unexpected elements that have been added truly make them more than the sum of their parts.

The three biggest aspects from their previous album “Hate.Malice.Revenge” are still heavily present on “The Price Of Existence”, that being the merger between brutal death metal, the Gothenburg sound and hardcore. As “The Price Of Existence” starts off, it’s as if every element on their previous album has been amplified. The drums with many death metal style beats are faster, the melodies catchier, the breakdowns are more brutal, the vocals even wider in variety now even including well placed gang vocals. One item not present on the previous album that manages to find it’s way into everything is the inclusion of a new lead guitarist. While not every song has guitar solos, lead runs pop up in well placed areas, as well as some slightly flashier melodies and harmonies being played on top of the crushing rhythms.

As the album progresses, other unexpected musical nuances come forth naturally as well, such as the well placed light interlude with acoustic guitars, to a piano introduction in another song. One song brings forth a black metal influence without being as obvious as so many other bands do. Featuring high raspy vocals one moment, then going into a slower, more spoken word portion where the vocals are more of a growled whisper. Even the moment with clean singing on the final song is done just right.
“The Price Of Existence” is an album where every song works together in the order their played. When going through “The Price Of Existence” from front to back, one feels more as if they’ve listened to an audio version of an epic summer movie. I was expecting an album worthy of an 8 out of 10, but “The Price Of Existence” surpassed my expectations, and is truly more than the sum of its parts.

9/10

All Shall Perish
All Shall Perish At Nuclear Blast Records