Executive Overview
Fifteen years after releasing their final studio record, influential American deathcore heavyweights All Shall Perish are officially mounting a comeback. Following their initial reunion in 2024, the band has announced a bold and uncompromising return to the studio, launching a high-profile Kickstarter campaign to fund their upcoming, yet-to-be-titled album.
Choosing to bypass the traditional music industry infrastructure entirely, the band is operating under a completely independent "DIY" framework. Freed from the confines of record labels, management agencies, and binding contracts, All Shall Perish are placing their creative destiny directly into the hands of their fiercely loyal fanbase.
This move highlights a growing, industry-wide shift away from major and independent labels. By leveraging direct-to-consumer platforms, legacy metal acts are proving that artists can reclaim ownership of their art, bypass the "Faustian bargains" of traditional gatekeepers, and finance heavy metal on their own terms.
Detailed Chronology: From Oakland Roots to a 15-Year Hiatus and Beyond
To understand the weight of All Shall Perish’s current crowdfunding campaign, one must examine the band’s turbulent history, marked by critical acclaim, lineup shifts, internal friction, and a prolonged silence.
2002–2006: The Foundation and Early Breakthroughs
Formed in Oakland, California, in 2002, All Shall Perish emerged during the nascent stages of the modern deathcore movement. Melding the crushing brutality and blast beats of traditional death metal with the jagged breakdowns, metallic hardcore urgency, and technical fretwork of the burgeoning 2000s scene, the group quickly separated themselves from their peers.
Their debut album, Hate, Malice, Revenge (initially released through Amonium Records and later reissued via Nuclear Blast), established their sonic template. However, it was their sophomore LP, The Price of Existance (2006), featuring landmark tracks like "Eradication," that cemented their status as critical darlings within extreme metal.
2008–2011: Peak Output and Final Recordings
Throughout the late 2000s, All Shall Perish toured relentlessly, sharing stages with metal heavyweights while undergoing several lineup changes. Vocalist Hernan "Eddie" Hermida took over front-man duties, contributing to their fourth studio album, This Is Where It Ends (2011).
This Is Where It Ends was a commercial and critical high-water mark for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and pushing the technical boundaries of deathcore further into progressive territory. Yet, beneath the surface, internal tensions were beginning to boil over.
2013–2023: The Bitter Split and Silence
By 2013, the pressure of constant touring, contractual obligations, and interpersonal conflict reached a boiling point. The band effectively imploded. In late 2013, the situation escalated when vocalist Eddie Hermida announced his departure to join suicide-metal titans Suicide Silence.
While the band never officially broke up on paper, they entered a deep, seemingly permanent freezer. For over a decade, members pursued separate musical endeavors, career paths, and personal lives. For many fans, All Shall Perish became another casualty of the brutal realities of the underground music business—legends of a bygone era whose story had ended prematurely.
2024–Present: The Triumphant Reunion and Kickstarter Launch
Rumors began to circulate in late 2023 before culminating in an official reunion announcement in 2024. Reconnecting over shared history and a renewed passion for heavy music, the core members realized that the creative spark had never truly died.
Rather than quietly booking local festival appearances or signing a legacy deal with a metal label, the band opted for maximum impact. In late 2026, they launched their Kickstarter campaign, shattering the expectations of the extreme metal community and signaling a new, liberated chapter in their discography.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Economics of Modern Metal and the DIY Movement
The decision by All Shall Perish to shun traditional labels is not an isolated incident; it represents a fundamental recalibration of how heavy metal bands monetize their art in the digital age.
The Anatomy of the "Faustian Bargain"
In their scathing critique of the modern music business, All Shall Perish highlighted the pitfalls of signing long-term label deals. Historically, independent metal labels like Nuclear Blast (which was acquired by French digital music company Believe in 2018) provided crucial distribution, physical manufacturing, and promotional muscle.
However, in the streaming era, the economics of traditional recording contracts have soured for many legacy artists. Issues frequently cited by musicians include:
- Low Streaming Royalties: With streaming platforms paying fractions of a cent per stream, recouping recording advances has become nearly impossible for mid-tier metal bands.
- Loss of Master Rights: Labels often retain ownership of master recordings in perpetuity, meaning artists do not fully profit from their own historical catalogues.
- Tour-to-Death Cycles: To make up for declining recorded music revenues, labels and booking agencies frequently push bands into exhaustive, underpaid touring schedules that lead directly to burnout and band dissolution.
Crowdfunding as Liberation
By turning to Kickstarter, All Shall Perish are utilizing a direct-to-consumer (D2C) model that cuts out corporate middlemen. Crowdfunding allows bands to:
- Validate Demand Upfront: Fans essentially pre-order the album and fund its production costs before a single note is mixed, eliminating financial risk.
- Retain 100% Creative Control: Without A&R executives demanding radio edits, commercial hooks, or stylistic shifts, the band can deliver an uncompromised, punishing deathcore record.
- Maximize Profit Margins: Every dollar raised goes directly into production, studio time, mixing, mastering, and physical manufacturing, allowing the band to sustain themselves rather than feeding corporate intermediaries.
The Fan Economy: Rewarding the Community
To entice backers, All Shall Perish have structured a tiered reward system that goes far beyond standard digital downloads. Perks range from signed physical merchandise (CDs, t-shirts, and custom hoodies) to hyper-exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences:
- "Your Scream on a Gang Vocal": Fans can actively participate in the recording process by having their own vocals mixed into the album’s massive gang-shout choruses.
- Studio Immersion Days: High-tier backers gain exclusive access to spend a day in the studio with the band during the recording process.
This participatory approach transforms passive listeners into active stakeholders in the band’s legacy.
Official Statements: In Their Own Words
The transparency of All Shall Perish’s campaign communication has resonated deeply with the metal community. In their official Kickstarter pitch, the band did not mince words regarding their past, their hiatus, and their vision for the future:
"Truth is, we never stopped writing. Ok… well maybe we did for a few years when we all hated each other in 2013," the band confessed with characteristic bluntness.
Addressing their current operational status—completely independent of labels, managers, and corporate oversight—they emphasized the purity of their relationship with their supporters:
"We are finally blessed to be here with NO label, NO contracts, NO manager, NOTHING but YOU, the amazing fanbase that has waited too long, and has done nothing but support us as we finally found a way to return."
Expanding on their critique of the industry apparatus, the band issued a stark warning about the exploitation common in the music business:
"Signing a long term deal with a label is a faustian bargain. The music industry is often a cruel mistress, it can chew people up, spit them out, force over-saturation, tour-you-to-death and just generally abuse what is supposed to be something sacred: the culture that we all curate for the love of it every day."
Finally, emphasizing their maturity and readiness to handle the logistics of an independent release, the band declared:
"We are UNC status now, and we know the game. We know what it takes, what it costs to make an album and to roll it out."
Future Outlook: What the Return of All Shall Perish Means for Deathcore
The return of All Shall Perish comes at a fascinating time for the deathcore genre. Over the past decade, deathcore has undergone a massive renaissance. Modern sub-genres have embraced everything from symphonic grandeur and down-tuned slam elements to progressive experimentation and electronic soundscapes—largely pioneered or influenced by the groundwork All Shall Perish laid in the 2000s.
Musical Expectations
Fans waiting for new material can expect a masterclass in technical aggression. Because the band members have spent years refining their individual crafts away from the pressure cooker of All Shall Perish, their musicianship is expected to be tighter, heavier, and more uncompromising than ever. Without label interference, there will be no commercial concessions made to chase streaming trends; this will be pure, unfiltered All Shall Perish.
Industry Implications
If All Shall Perish successfully funds, produces, and releases their upcoming album entirely on their own terms, it will serve as a powerful blueprint for other legacy metal acts looking to escape unfavorable contracts. It proves that a dedicated, long-standing fanbase is far more valuable than a corporate marketing budget—provided the band maintains authentic communication and delivers top-tier art.
As the Kickstarter campaign progresses toward its goals, one thing is abundantly clear: the kings of technical deathcore are back, they are entirely self-governed, and they are ready to remind the heavy metal world why they left such an indelible mark in the first place.
