In a musical jungle, consisting of myriad subgenres, some bands stand out as the mediators, the melting pots of the best of the best. They take a little of this, a little of that, then blends it into a cocktail. Now; there are two kinds of cocktails: The bad ones, that has far too much of something in them – you just drain it and orders a different one. And the good ones, with just the right amount of every ingredient. Awaken the Dreamers – the latest album from Californian band All Shall Perish – belongs to the second category. They use good basic death metal as the background for seemingly endless musical experiments. The first tracks are run-of-the-mill metalcore and hardcore variations but of a very high class. Then suddenly, in the title song and its follower, Memories of a Glass Sanctuary, the music twists and takes on dark doomish qualities; moaning guitars and rough melodic vocals. When the doom fades (just around the time you are looking for your razor blade) All Shall Perish pins you down in a deathgrind/metalcore embrace with Stabbing the Purge Dissimulation and the brilliantly named Gagged, Bound, Shelved and Forgotten – the former reminding you of Job for a Cowboy (but with far less math), the later sounding like a very very heavy take on the late Pantera-albums. And the dazzling potpourri of brutal subgenres just keeps on and on. The more times you listen to this record, the more gold you dig up. And talking of gold, All Shall Perish even found room for a humble, but recognizable and genuine power metal wail in the song Black Gold Reign. Marvelous!
The musical motors of All Shall Perish is Matt Kuykendall (drums) and Hernan Hermida (vocals). Kuykendall is a magnificent drummer, that carries the actual melody of the songs, as well as the rhythm, while playing perfectly tight. The vocals vary from demonic growls, over “normal” singing and spoken voice-over, to the squeals and wails of more esoteric genres. Together these two talents create the canvas on which the strings paint small masterpieces – there’s a very good solo in From So Far Away, for example.
Its always great when bands try new stuff, new elements, and are not afraid to mix components that others would deem impossible to put together. These guys obviously doesn’t want a single genre-template, so I’m not going to give them one. But I am going to give them a very high rating!
Go buy Awaken the Dreamers!
