A Very Special Guest Column: Dave Mustein on All Shall Perish’s “This is Where It Ends”

Hey there kids! Some of you may know me from the site www.MetalSucks.net, where I do most of my writing. But when Paulina contacted me and reminded me of that heroin-related incident from Wacken 2003, I knew that I had to pay my debts and do this guest column for her. I might even end up doing more. So, without further ado:

“A Pure Evil” nearly ruined my pants on the first listen. It kept me that way for my next few spins of This is Where It Ends. But on maybe my 4th spin of the album. I realized something awful. All Shall Perish have acquired a deadly disease. It’s called DTS, and it stands for Dream Theater Syndrome. They’re a great band, and their last two releases were plenty good, but they were not great. And at this point, they really need to deliver another masterwork like The Price of Existence to keep going. It’s kind of sad, but there just isn’t room today for All Shall Perish to keep making good music.

There’s also a serious lack of consistency in the songs on the album. Everything is all over the place, and there’s no connection between many riffs, even in short passages. Nearly every track tries to cram too much music and too many ideas into too little time. Take “Royalty Into Exile.” It’s a solid enough song, with some cool riffs and a shreddy solo. But it jumps back and forth between metalcore riffing and the usual ASP song material – obscenely low-tuned breakdowns, rhythmic chugging with still-awkward pauses, and a solo bordering on wankery. Songs like “Divine Illusion” and “A Pure Evil” do buck this trend, but those are standout songs on the album.

And therein lies the biggest problem with This is Where It Ends: All Shall Perish have become formulaic, and this formulation coupled with the songs’ lack of consistency makes all the solos, all the breakdowns, and all the songs blend into one another, regardless of how good any one song may be in a vacuum. “Spineless” sounds like it could be swapped with Origin’s “Expulsion of Fury” and a lot of ASP fans might not even notice the change. And, in what is hugely important for the masses of deathcore kids, there are no real anthems on the album. “Divine Illusion” tries pretty hard, but there is no “Eradication” or “Wage Slaves.” Hell, there isn’t even a “Stabbing to Purge Dissimulation.” There’s nothing for the scene kids, and there’s a seriers of good yet unremarkable tracks for everyone else.

I liked Awaken the Dreamers, and a lot of problems present on that album have been rectified here (subtler, smoother incorporation of melody and clean guitar parts; slightly less awkward yet still imperfect breakdowns; fewer songs clustered around the same tempo).  But really, there isn’t a single track on This is Where It Ends that would feel out of place on Awaken. Musically, the album is probably even more technical, but it isn’t enough. All Shall Perish kind of need a complete overhaul at this point to stay afloat in the metal world.

Let me reiterate: This is not a bad album. It’s a solid album, maybe even a great album – in a vacuum. But in comparison to other stuff that’s been recently released, and to earlier ASP material, it’s just a samey rehash of deathcore that may seem splooge-worthy on first listen. But it gets old, fast. Look elsewhere if you enjoy creativity and innovation. Otherwise, have fun.