There are so many labels for different styles of heavy metal, but I’d have to say my favorite genre name is deathcore. It’s like a death-proof car, something beyond mere ordinariness or an ultra-descriptive genre name like doom metal. It’s pretty much impossible to describe to those not in the know exactly what deathcore is, but I suppose if you wanted to give a 36-minute crash course, you can have them listen to Awaken the Dreamers, the new album from Oakland, Calif., band All Shall Perish.

On the surface, Awaken the Dreamers seems to be deathcore by numbers. After all, it has the growling vocals, the cool band name, the goofy song titles (“Stabbing to Purge Dissimulation” and “Gagged, Bound, Shelved and Forgotten”), and the hardcore guitars and drums. And yet there are hints that ASP is far more complex than that. There’s the title track, which sounds a bit like something off Between the Buried and Me’s Alaska album, and the haunting “Memories of a Glass Sanctuary.” Guitarists Chris Storey and Ben Orum play with real texture beyond the usual drop-D tunings. “Memories” is a guitarist’s song to be sure. Singer Hernan Hermida unleashes some hellish screams and death metal vocals.

To be honest, I kind of preferred the more complex stuff to the conventional deathcore songs. Numbers like “Stabbing to Purge Dissimulation” seem predictable and bland. ASP comes off much better when they are mixing things up. “Gagged, Bound, Shelved and Forgotten” is a good example of this, as the band bounces off the padded walls while Hermida goes from “tough guy at the bar” growl to a tortured scream. The closer, “Songs for the Damned,” wraps things up in fine style.

Awaken the Dreamers is ultimately a solid effort, but at the same time, it finds a band trying to keep it brutal while expanding its musical horizons. In an effort to stay 100-percent deathcore, All Shall Perish struggles to carve out its own territory. But it’s worth hearing them try.