All Shall Perish
Hate.Malice.Revenge

June 2005
Released: 2005, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Waspman

Orignally released by Japan’s Amputated Vein Records in 2003, HATE.MALICE.REVENGE is Oakland, California’s All Shall Perish’s debut CD. Partially influenced by those new-fangled metalcore sounds (though not half as much as some would have you believe), but mostly by good old-fashioned death metal (of both the Floridian and Swedish variety), All Shall Perish are a new punishing force to be reckoned with.

When the first strains of “Deconstruction” blast through the speakers, you’re immediately transported back to the heyday of 1991 when albums like LIKE AN EVER-FLOWING STREAM and LEFT HAND PATH reigned supreme. Craig Betit’s vocals are pure death aggression and the rest of the band grinds like the gods of yore. Right away, it’s obvious that All Shall Perish easily decimates metalcore bands like Shadows Fall and As I Lay Dying, not to mention the fact that they obliterate whiners like Atreyu. Sure, some metalcore creeps into Betit’s vocals, but it is always the shouted portions – there is no melodic crooning to be found here. As well, there are riffs and breakdowns here that are ripped straight from the metalcore playbook, but they are quickly swept away in a flurry of Dismembered riffs.

There is nothing groundbreaking in HATE.MALICE.REVENGE’S churn, but it certainly is ground-shaking! This album will beat the living hell out of you for all of its brief 36 minutes and leave you craving for more. Leave the pretenders behind – All Shall Perish are the real thing.