Napalm Flesh: All Shall Perish Interview

Hail, heathens! Did you have a safe and productive Christmas? Or is reading this article on a bright monitor sending a sledgehammer through your swollen brain? I say if Jesus really loved us as much as they say, he’d give us his birthday as a hangover-free zone. We should talk to him about that next time we see him. Before you careen your way into the New Years orgy, Napalm Flesh would like to present our final article of the year, and it’s a brutally awesome one at that: an interview with front man Eddie Hermida of All Shall Perish, whose new record This Is Where It Ends is being lovingly devoured by fans across the nation. We talk about writing with their new band bros, what inspires him lyrically, and how this summer’s stint on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest has helped push All Shall Perish a little more out of the underground. (Check out SLUG’s coverage of Mayhem Fest here, as well as the Mayhem Photo Gallery!) We also have blog-exclusive reviews of new releases from Abnormal Thought Patterns, Anal Cunt and Vore.

If you’re still looking for some plans this weekend, here’s what the valley has to offer in live metal:
Tonight, there are still tickets for the world-famous Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Energy Solutions Arena. Tickets range in price from $29-58 so check out their website for seating.

And to wet your whistle for the coming months, SLUG’s February Localized show is one you do NOT want to miss. Napalm Flesh is presenting an all-metal showcase with locals Visigoth, Huldra and Nevertanezra at Urban Lounge Friday, February 10th. It’s going to be fantastic! Come support your locals.


INTERVIEW WITH EDDIE HERMIDA of ALL SHALL PERISH
Hailing from Oakland, California, underground death metal band All Shall Perish has been taking a steady road to the limelight this decade. They’ve drawn attention across the metal world for both their musical prowess (Kirk Hammett- yeah, that Kirk- named record “Awaken the Dreamers” as one of the top 25 metal albums of the decade) and their recent line-up changes. 2011 saw the highly anticipated release of new album This Is Where It Ends, the first with fresh members drummer Adam Pierce and lead guitarist Francesco Artusato, and judging by the amount of top album lists it’s made nationwide this year, fans and critics alike are on board with All Shall Perish’s newest incarnation. Napalm Flesh got some time with front man Eddie Hermida as he enjoyed a break at home to see how this new fame is treating his band.

SLUG: How was your summer on Mayhem Fest?
Hermida: Shit man, that was one of the best tours we’ve ever done. As an underground band it’s kind of the highest point you can ever achieve is going on your Warped Tour, your Mayhem Fest, your Ozzfest, due to the fact that you don’t really get to expose yourself to that many people very often. It has a heavy implication for what that means for the band. The ability to have that kind of promotion behind you is just immense.

SLUG: Have you seen a big flux in your fan base since then?
Hermida: Yeah, actually, at least at home [and] in certain areas, we’ve seen a lot of people coming back out. We just did a tour with Black Dahlia Murder and we didn’t get a lot of kids coming out to that just because both of us did big summer touring fests, but we [won’t get] a chance to see true crowd response until we headline in April.

SLUG: How have the new songs been received?
Hermida: Better than I assumed, actually. You don’t really know how songs are going to go over, you don’t know how they’re going to be, so when kids actually start jumping around and pitting and going crazy for y our music it’s pretty awesome.

SLUG: Fans are familiar with the lineup changes you guys have endured the last few years; writing with new members Adam Pierce and Francesco, how long did it take you guys to groove together and get in a comfortable place? What was the biggest difference from writing previous albums?
Hermida: It was actually a shit-ton easier. We got through the whole process within like a couple of months. Usually All Shall Perish is known for taking their sweet time on records; the first record I did with the band almost took us a year to write and the second record took us 8 months to write and record. And we did that in pretty much half the time for this new record which was awesome. It was a real big change in how we write. There was a lot less picking every last detail part, a lot more just free-flowing with the music and song structures. There weren’t a lot of throwaways. Usually on a record we have so much left over because of stuff we just throw out that we could end up writing another record of just throwaway riffs. It wasn’t such a battle to write. Because the riffs we threw away from previous records weren’t bad, they just rubbed somebody the wrong way, stuff like that. And they’re not in the band because they started seeing stuff in a much different light. That’s just how it works as musicians, you have to agree, that’s the first part of the job, being able to agree and write music together. With our new guys, we’ve rekindled everything and it got us out of the dumps, and it came together so well that we’re just happy.

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