Please tell me a little about your band, the history of ALL SHALL PERISH, what was the approach you conceived to writing metal music?

Matt / Drums: We have been a band since 2003 and released 3 records since then. We all come from very different musical backgrounds and our approach to writing metal is heavily influenced by that fact. We try to write whatever we
feel like and not be controlled by the boundaries of our scene.

How did you come up with your name?

I came up with it while i was in college in berkeley california. I wanted a simple name, something that was true and i could always stand behind. We too often forget that all things come to an end.

Your new album "Awaken The Dreamers" is very melodic and not as brutal as your last releases. What happened?

Haha! I’d say a more accurate depiction of our cd is that we mixed the brutal and the melodic. If you listen to the first song on the CD, you can see it is one of the heaviest and most brutal things we have ever released, however we decided to branch out and write some of the other kinds of music we love. I think our new record has by far some of the most intense and br00tal parts of our career.

I think some of your old fans are not amused about the new arrangements on "Awaken The Dreames". They miss the brutal and the faster parts and the brutal shouting of Eddie. What do you say to those fans?

Id say listen to tracks 1, 7, and 10 haha. There are still songs that sound very similar to "price" We aren’t going to write the same record twice, sorry. We have always been a band that tries to progress and mold our sound into somthing new and that’s how we always will be. If our fans follow us great, if not...i honestly don’t care, we write music that we like.

In my opinion the album is a perfect Deathcore Release, because it connects Hardcore and Death Metal to a unit. What is your opinion about your new output?

I love it. I’m very happy with this entire release. The record has songs for every different kind of mood and place in time. When i listen to it, i personally love the ups and downs and the great shifts in emotion throughout the experience.

The third album of an artist is a very important album. What means that for ALL SHALL PERISH? Where do you go to, what are your targets as musicians?

We just want to have fun and write music we love...maybe see the world in the process and pay a couple bills. We don't have grand illusions as far as becoming rich or anything like that. I am already extremely happy with what we have done as a band.

In the past the band has a lot of line-up changes. Is your line-up now stable?

Actually we have only had 2 line up changes in 5 years. Yes, this is our line up now.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Opeth, Pantera, Cannibal Corpse, Blood has been shed, Irate, Suffocation,

How does an ALL SHALL PERISH song evolve?

It all starts with a riff. From there we work a riff into sections, then we decide if its a middle, or an end etc. From there, we start going into riffing until we have a full song based around our starting riff and then we add vocals.

How did you experience Ieper Fest 2008? Do hardcore Shows differ a lot from your regular ones?

Ieper fest was fucking INCREDIBLE!! Definitely one of the best shows of our career. I love Belgium and cant wait to go back. Id say our regular shows are hardcore shows. That is the audience we play in front of most of the time.

What bands are you currently listening to?

I cant speak for the rest of the band but for me...Lil wayne, Blessed by a broken heart, the new bleeding through, Nofx etc.

What do you think about the state of Death Metal / Deathcore in 2008?

It’s fuckin’ awesome! Lots of new kids are getting into brutal music and the scene has probably not been this strong in a long time. While there are alot of silly bands and copycats out there, in general i am very excited about the future of death metal!

What has been your strangest show so far?

We played in France on a tugboat that was in the water. Eddie missed the show, so mike our bassist had to try to sing and play at the same time and it was a disaster!

I saw a guy on a photo with a very big ALL SHALL PERISH tattoo on the back. What do you say to those fans? Is this form of enthusiasm not binding or burdening for you?

It’s an honor. If we can be that kind of band for someone then we have really done our job. Liking a band enough to tattoo yourself is usually the kind of admiration you reserve for music that is beyond important to you or defines you. Like i said, if we can be that band for someone, we are honoured.

You have the last word:

Thank you for the interview!! Listen to the classics like Suffocation and Dying fetus, and buy cds! like our new one :)