I don’t mind the production. Bleeding Through’s 2006 album “The Truth” and Born of Osiris’ 2007 debut “The New Reign” warmed me up to rough sounding albums like this. You can hear all the instruments and the vocals and what the songs are supposed to sound like, so that’s fine with me.
Musically speaking, is this a complete departure for Suicide Silence? Very much so. It honestly doesn’t even resemble their past works, so in that regard I can understand why SOME people would be against it. You expected Suicide Silence and got something else. I get it.
Hell, even vocalist Eddie Hermida doesn’t sound like himself, in the ways we’ve been accustomed to hearing for over a decade in All Shall Perish, Suicide Silence, and up to before this release.
Some bands should never change. Some bands need to grow and expand and morph over time. The Deathcore genre as a whole has needed to explore new territories for a few years now because every breakdown possible has been more than done. This album isn’t Deathcore though, and that upset a lot of people.
Personally… I like it. It’s not incredible. It’s not mind blowingly amazing. But I like it for what it is. I’m not gonna claim to be the biggest fan of Suicide Silence but I’ve liked them since “The Cleansing” was released in 2007 and have seen them live twice (both times with Mitch on vocals) and have to some degree liked everything they’ve put out to date. I’m not gonna fault anyone for not liking it or tell to open their mind. It’s all in your own individual tastes. I can’t tell you to like something if you don’t. All I can do is encourage you to listen if you haven’t already and decide for yourself. This isn’t a case of if you love Suicide Silence you’ll love this, because it isn’t.
From the first single and track “Doris” on to “Silence” and “Listen”….. it’s as heavy as KoRn and Coal Chamber has ever been, but not quite early Slipknot heavy. “Dying in a Red Room” is more Deftones gone Marilyn Manson. “Hold Me Up, Hold Me Down” let’s some of that Deathcore back in, but I can’t guarantee you’ll love it like their previous material. It’s complete with ridiculous high screams, low growls and and a long heavy breakdown.
“Run” really draws from “Issues” era KoRn. You can’t deny it or paint a different picture. Even the bass tone is super Fieldy. “The Zero” is far more along the lines of “Untouchables” era KoRn. Also not disputable. “Conformity” is my favorite from the whole album. It’s also the least heavy song, musically. It’s purely mood and atmosphere which makes it heavy in a different way, which leads into the final track, “Don’t Be Careful You Might Hurt Yourself”. The most extreme intro on “Suicide Silence”, for sure. It doesn’t stay blastbeating through the whole thing so hopefully that doesn’t disappoint you, assuming you’re listening to the entire album and don’t hate it.
So, is one song that somewhat resembles their former sound enough to keep longtime diehard fans onboard? From what I’ve seen and heard, unfortunately not. Will this new sound exploration bring in new fans? Time will tell. We’ll see how they dig themselves out of what’s been transpiring lately, and see where they go from here musically. I’m a little anxious to see where they go, because I wasn’t expecting this from them, atleast not this soon. I haven’t seen them live with Eddie on vocals yet, but I’d like to out of curiosity.
Overall, the album isn’t a homerun, but I certainly am ok with it and think they’re building towards something that could be truly interesting. I’d go so far as to say it’s atleast their 3rd best album, in my view. Controversial? Hey man, it’s Music.
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed by Marcus Miller
Follow Us