“Invasion” opens up the album like most openings do – a fade-in of synthesized keys with a mid-tempo melodic riff – that segues into “The Apprentice” with a force that doesn’t let up until the melodic break. The rest of the songs feature similar intensities especially “Despise Your Life”, while won’t make you despise your own life, it will make you want to headbang, especially for the strong harmonized chorus that later leads into a tasty solo.

The structure of the songs are fairly predictable – strong melodic opening riff with the verse and chorus and usually a breakdown, which do not follow metalcore tropes – they are all enjoyable and fairly memorable. “As Darkness Reigns” in particular is memorable, though that could also be due to the fact that I almost thought my playlist skipped to Dismember‘s “On Frozen Fields.” December Flower does explore a bit of an epic side with “And Blood Has to be Shed” and closer “The Fountain” which continues the former track and recalls the opener somewhat, just slowed down.

December Flower is really hammering the idiom home and taking from bands like Dismember or older In Flames is certainly not a bad thing. If melodic death metal is your thing and you’re yearning to hear some classics but don’t want to completely retread the usual suspects, When All Life Ends… is not a bad place to start. It just may make you yearn for the progenitors of Swedish death metal.