All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence (2006) Review

As the band celebrates the 20th anniversary of this album with a 30-day tour and the release of a remastered version, coupled with the roll we have going on here with related posts, it is high time we discussed one of the foundational deathcore releases, and undoubtedly one of the best. I don't think I'm mistaken, but All Shall Perish's live shows around 2005–2006 were among the first instances in which the genre term itself was even being uttered, alongside Despised Icon's "Montreal deathcore" tag. On The Price of Existence, however, the band's aerobatics reached high enough to gaze over into the neighboring territory of death metal. 

Not many people picked up on these guys when they released their first album, Hate, Malice, Revenge (2003), on Amputated Vein Records, but someone at Nuclear Blast recognised the potential, re-released the record two years later, and set the stage for a follow-up that would eventually leap several bounds ahead of the already entertaining early material. Not to say I don't enjoy the debut too; I think that, for a long time, I would think of this band instead of Lamb of God whenever I heard the track title "Laid to Rest". 

As a matter of fact, though, The Price of Existence was a significant step forward in every respect, both for All Shall Perish and for the scene they helped kick-start. The production had improved considerably, while interesting themes of social criticism, the deconstruction of modern pseudo-values and ecological concerns were backed by freshly forged, heavy beats beneath the raw mixture of hardcore breakdowns and death metal-inspired riffing. Meanwhile, Eddie Hermida's voice is at its absolute peak on this album, a peak that has never been topped since. I don't think his performances with Suicide Silence match the monstrosity he achieved on The Price of Existence, and I sometimes secretly wish he had stayed with All Shall Perish all along.

The record begins with two of deathcore's greatest tracks ever, "Eradication" and "Wage Slaves", both of which belong on any list of the genre's most influential or groundbreaking songs from its formative era. The songwriting embraces a duality of brutal force and tremolo-picked melodic passages, reminiscent of At the Gates and occasionally bordering on Cryptopsy, rather than relying on the standard deathcore formula of groove and breakdown-heavy momentum. This instantly clicked with me back then and still hasn't worn out to this day. 

Hefty guitar lines parade through "The Day of Justice" and the yet another classic "There Is No Business to Be Done on a Dead Planet", both excellent pieces through which to explore the album's thematic concerns as well. All Shall Perish reveal a more reflective compositional palette on "Better Living Through Catastrophe", whose introduction vaguely reminded me of As I Lay Dying's "I Never Wanted", before moving into the breakdown-driven "Prisoner of War" and the clean-guitar instrumental "Greyson". The band returns to demolition mode on "We Hold These Truths", followed by the pure brute force of the magnitude-10 "The True Beast"—that opening pig squeal alone is menacing.

The Price of Existence contains countless signs that it was ahead of its time, with so many structural patterns, sonic choices and tempo alterations that would later be overused throughout modern deathcore. This goes a long way toward explaining why All Shall Perish will forever remain one of the style's undeniable overlords. The album slows down on "Promises" before broadening the scope of its sound on the final and longest piece, "The Last Relapse", which incorporates acoustic guitar and symphonic passages and brings this epic listen to its conclusion.

Twenty years later, the album's impact is arguably easier to recognize than ever. What once sounded like an unusually ambitious strain of deathcore has become a subconscious standard for many newer artists, even if they don't realize it. Yet The Price of Existence still possesses something I'm struggling to find in its descendants, the idea of authentic personality. It remains one of those rare records that can simultaneously represent a scene's formative years and transcend the limitations of its era. For me, that is precisely why returning to it after all these years still feels worthwhile.

The blood of tortured souls stains me
i can't bear it
we must see where this lies leading
then we'll listen, then we'll listen to
a cry from earth for changes 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Spectral Lore - I (2006) Review

 Release date: 2006
Genre: Black Metal / Dark Ambient
Origin: Greece
Label: Saturnine Society (MC)
Listen: Bandcamp

Spectral Lore’s debut full length is very much not like material that followed later, and as this act has made itself famous with its massive and unique black metal sound today, back in 2006 things had not settled in terms of music or direction. I, was originally released in cassette, going along with poor production and primitive sound which, while already showing its compositional adventurous character, did not step that far away from the norm. Ayloss used hefty amounts of dark ambient, which also experimented more than just creating endless dusty pads, for example in the tracks “The Drowning” and “The Descent”. Unconventional noise-like compositions were also practiced not only in the introductory piece “Layers of Conception” (what a way to open an album”, but also in “Sigma Receptor”, having a sound equal to all the as-noisy-as-possible raw black metal bands of the underground today.

Unfortunately, the tracks in I are simply underwhelming in terms of ideas. While Spectral Lore presents lengthy tunes, for which it would later become famous, they are the weakest in this album, as it can be heard from the relatively boring guitar parts and transitions of the 13 minute long “Echoes of a Long Dead and Forgotten Place”. A lot of different ideas come into the game, indicating a clearly restless composer (no need to praise Ayloss even more), but the pieces have not be placed smoothly together in this puzzle. I feels more about him playing around until things click, and things clicked a bit later in Spectral Lore’s discography. The outro “Exodus” sounds completely out of place compared to the rest of the record, and “The Cleansing Rain/Morningrise in the Eternal Fields” overuses its natural samples, before an average middle to end part. Sounds come and go too quickly and nothing remains.

As a band that has achieved stellar levels of greatness since then, Spectral Lore’s early material are definitely worth a listen and should be part of the fans’ collections. This debut however comes off quite disoriented, with a noisy sound that is not helpful and very sparse good moments, if any. I appreciate the creativity that underwent this release, yet at this stage it wasn’t fruitful. I have returned several times to I, but the album has never managed to keep my attention except for only a handful of moments where it’s just interesting to hear the noise. Other than that, some more attention was brought to the record when it was re-released in 2015 on vinyl, with a beautiful cover art (the one shown above).

Tracklist:

1. Layers of Conception
2. The Drowning
3. Echoes of a Long Dead and Forgotten Place
4. The Descent
5. Sigma Receptor
6. The Cleansing Rain / Morningrise in the Eternal Fields
7. Exodus

Damage: 2/5 [Below Average]

Archgoat - Whore of Bethlehem (2006) Review

Country | Finland
Genre | Black / Death Metal
Label | Osmose Productions
Dynamic range | DR9

| Against all white light |

Each genre and sub genre is characterized by a couple of breakthrough bands that first started with that particular music, motivating many others with their albums. In a way, ungraceful black / death metal is not an established subcategory (as symphonic black metal for example) but there is a whole scene based around it, starting back in the early nineties. Now, it's true that most of the bands in there are nothing more than whining drunks with a very immature and easy to go touch in their stuff, which consists of a lot of swearing, genitalia and upside down crosses. Tell me when I have to get scared.

One of these milestone bands for this genre are indeed Archgoat. Despite having very few releases and only some years activity in 1989-1993, it seems to be one of the major influences around here. Coming back from the dead in 2005, Whore of Bethlehem is in fact the debut full length album by the band. I would be happy with a trve kvlt record in 1992-1994 because it would surely be worshiped later on, but hey, it's never too late. So, what do we have to expect from the first full album by Archgoat? Not much have changed and it should stay that way, with the dudes focusing on pure madness and bestiality for about thirty five minutes. If you have heard their first EP Angelcunt (Tales of Desecration) and loved it, with a silent wish of a longer record in the back of your mind, this is for you. After a nonsense MCD in 2005 which almost buried them alive, they pick things up right from where they left them in 1993 and put out a -by all means- solid record.

Of course, the genre is somehow doomed to mediocrity inside it's own borders, since bands like these never demonstrate something unique or fascinating musically. I doubt they give a damn about it either, since the sole purpose is to be ugly and attacking, so every bands that succeeds that can be considered "good" by me. I don't have a lot of complaints about Whore of Bethlehem, as it balances nicely between pure blasphemy and musical structure, without giving emphasis on one of the two alone. The same ingredients are used once more, from the filthy black / death riffs, to the monstrous vocals and the hard hitting drums, as well as a steady bass sound, is the alpha and the omega for the band. The sound of the album is low pitched and scourging, lacking variety for it's own good. The old but adored church bells and synths are included in a couple of songs, like in "Dawn of the Black Light.

It's not creative or rich, but it feels great to listen to. It's typical Archgoat but in a larger proportion, dressed in a dusty and hostile production, putting it right in every playlist, when you feel like sacrificing goats in the name of Lucifer, while cursing religion in any way possible. You are not going to fall apart from it's sheer musical genius, but surely it has the needed brutality and rawness.

DAMAGE: 7.25/10

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