ALL SHALL PERISH are like the Oakland Raiders, the football team from where the band resides; full of bad asses and if you’re a hater expect to get a ton of shit from their diehard fans, if not the rims of your car stolen. With people like Kirk Hammett (METALLICA) and Rob Flynn (MACHINE HEAD) sighting the band as favorites, it’s only a matter a time before the franchise known as ALL SHALL PERISH starts to fill sports arenas themselves. Couple that with their rapidly growing popularity and their huge musical growth over a relatively short amount of time, and the comparison isn’t such a stretch of the imagination. Now with This Is Where It Ends, the band have once again created a defining moment in their careers and cemented themselves as leaders of the new wave of extreme metal. If you ever doubted them, it’s best you back away now slowly while facing the angry mob.

Formed with the intent of not being labeled with the restricting monikers of “death metal”, “hardcore” or “metalcore,” ALL SHALL PERISH blasted onto the bay area scene in 2002 playing every kind of show imaginable. After recording a self-titled 3 song demo, the Japanese label Amputated Vein Records released their first full-length album Hate.Malice.Revenge. (2003). After a ton of underground D.I.Y. touring, the band signed a world wide deal with Nuclear Blast records in December of 2004. Nuclear Blast rereleased Hate.Malice.Revenge. in early ‘05 and ALL SHALL PERISH spent the rest of 2005 touring and writing their second record. Successful tours with the likes of SIX FEET UNDER, AS I LAY DYING, BLEEDING THROUGH, BRUJERIA, DYING FETUS and DIECAST all helped expose the band to a new and diverse audience.

Ever since then, ALL SHALL PERISH have been re-defining the death and grind genres with vibrant ideas and unrelenting delivery. Giving us brutal music that possesses a natural need to experiment and push the boundaries of the extreme underground. While Hate.Malice.Revenge. quickly gave the band a name throughout the underground, it was their second offering, The Price Of Existence, that turned the death metal and underground masses on their collective ear. The release earned them the reputation of being one of the best young extreme acts from the United States in this new millennium. Tours with such genre leaders as AGNOSTIC FRONT, THROWDOWN, TERROR, HATE ETERNAL, RED CHORD, DESPISED ICON, SUICIDE SILENCE, ARSIS and THE FACELESS would follow. Soon the band set their sites on writing a new record and just one question was on everyone’s mind; could they possibly top The Price of Existence?

Jump to 2008 and the answer was obviously a resounding, YES THEY CAN! Awaken The Dreamers saw the band adding new elements to their sound and expanding their reach even more with tours with DANZIG, WINDS OF PLAGUE, EMMURE, JOB FOR A COWBOY, KATAKLYSM, BORN OF OSIRIS and as a part of the Summer Slaughter Tour package. Awaken The Dreamers was also the band’s first release to make The Billboard 200 charts and entered at position No. 126 upon release. It was during the promotional cycle for this record that lead guitarist Chris Storey left the band along with founding member, drummer Matt Kuykendall. Some people wondered how the band would bounce back from the loss of such key members. Subsequent tours with their replacements though quickly put any doubts to rest. Newly invigorated and with everything to prove, the band began working on new material for their next release.

While Awaken The Dreamers saw the band focusing on a more experimental and melodic side, This Is Where It Ends conveys more of the raw energy, groove and technicality that put them on the map in first place. Add even stronger hooks and melodies than before and you have ALL SHALL PERISH’s best work to date. New guitarist Francesco Artusato scorches the fretboard with some fresh jazz/fusion tinged lines, that are both melodic and defy the laws of physics at the same time. New drummer Adam Pierce also leaves jaws dropping and eyes a poppin’ with his mind boggling fills and some warp speed tempos. As always, vocalist Eddie Hermida astounds people with his range, impassioned delivery and never ending diversity. But most importantly, the core riff writting team of bassist Mike Tiner and guitarist Ben Orum craft some of the most powerful and exciting riffs in modern metal today. Tracks like “Divine Illusion”, “Procession of Ashes”, and “Royalty Into Exile” are sure to be fan favorites for years to come and staples in the bands live set.

This Is Where It Ends was produced and mixed once again by the always in demand Zach Ohren (DECREPIT BIRTH, ODIOUS MORTEM, LIGHT THIS CITY), capturing the unbridled energy of their live shows more effectively than ever. Add in the striking artwork of artist Brent Elliott White (DEATH ANGEL, JOB FOR A COWBOY, WHITE CHAPEL) and This Is Where It Ends is a truly an experience for all the senses. Without a doubt, the future of metal has arrived and if you aren’t paying attention you might get left by the wayside with your car on bricks.

Armed with a handful of demo tracks and an EP release expected in Spring 2012, Reflections are a band that refuse to comment on their genre, and rightly so. Included in this deathcore series because they incorporate elements of the musical style (breakdowns included), they are harnessing a sound that, although fitting into the djent bracket too, is not constrained by the sum of its parts. This is promiscuous music that fucks precision into groove into brutality; wielding an A-HA track and a Katy Perry cover in their backcatalogue also shows how willing Reflections are to take conventionality up the chuffer.

However, where this five-piece are strongest is during music of their own creation. So far I’ve managed to eke out of the band the locations of 3 full-length tracks (I’ll link where possible), which, even as demoes, demonstrate the potential of this furious young troupe. Reflections have a sound that is pitched right on the edge of sanity; there is so much technical prowess here, especially during the spidery guitar-work that is so elaborate and dissonant. An Artifact refuses to clamp down, with its spindly solo opener and frenzied underlying chug that soon breaks down into the verse, whilst Advance Upon Me Brethren kicks into a bouncy groove, and then smashes you at freight train speed during the chorus. For all of the shitmunchers who wait with baited breath for the breakdown, there are those too, but framed by some really well executed music that doesn’t just leave you begging for the bass drop.

Reflections earn their stripes, though, not just because their musical skills are far beyond proficiency, but as willing participants in esotericism; this is exploratory music that takes cues from several areas of metal. It’s thought-out, provocative and technical whilst also being explosive and evocative and absent of any pretension. What’s more, they don’t participate in the race to be faster and heavier than everyone else (which gives deathcore its generic ooze), but instead are a far more convincing offering with progressive and groove elements thrown into the mix.

The next test for Reflections will be releasing a record that gives credit to their talent in being a cohesive and dangerous force. So far they’ve proved innovation in a genre that has already been condemned to the grave by some critics, and are pushing the boundaries in all sorts of degenerate ways. Reflections will find their strengths (and their admirers) by remaining as willing outcasts.