The deathcore titans in Suicide Silence are back. You know that already, right? Between the numerous articles and coverage this new self-titled album has been getting, as well as the fact that their initial fan base has been in hysterics, everyone seems to be paying attention to it. To put it lightly, (and to get right to business) this album is causing a firestorm, and if it weren’t for the inclusion of clean vocals and the nu-metal influence at play, it probably wouldn’t be causing as much of a stir as it currently is.
Establishing my relationship with the band, it’s safe to say I’m on neutral standing ground with them. I was fortunate enough to see them perform with former vocalist Mitch Lucker (And with All Shall Perish, ironically) and recognized them as an incredible live act. Other than that, I never had a love for them. Still, I was surprised to see such a dramatic shift in their sound right away like this, and as such I was curious to see what the band would be able to conjure up.
Unfortunately for them, the band’s self-titled effort is a creative venture that falters and tries to either expand or change their sound in order to be more “creative” by citing 90’s nu-metal as their influence. As such, you can expect a lot of Korn and Deftones influences. It’s not that the vocals are bad or that Suicide Silence isn’t at least trying, it’s just simply that this isn’t the best effort by the band, let alone the best that nu-metal has to offer.
Combining nu-metal with deathcore and metalcore influences isn’t a new thing, as there are bands in the underground scenes doing that right this very minute. So when the top-tier of the genre aren’t putting forward music that leads this charge, it becomes sad as they struggle to find a sense of purpose on this album. Lead single “Doris” acts as one of the high points of the album, in which Suicide Silence manages to retain its deathcore roots while introducing the nu-metal elements. Probably not in the best fashion, though, seeing as everyone’s first impression of the cleans were in a falsetto range. The ending, also, seems to be driving towards something, but eventually starts going on too long and becomes aimless in where it wants to go before it suddenly ends, much like your interest in this album will when you get past the first three tracks.
By then you’ve gotten to “Dying in a Red Room,” where the band abandons their older sound entirely by shifting into a straight-up Deftones knock-off. I’m all about loving Deftones and consider them to be one of my favorite bands, and I really believe some bands would do a great job at taking notes from them, but Suicide Silence simply go about this in the wrong way. The band, instead, opts to mimic them and shift their style entirely, except it seems to lack the quality and emotion that the band usually has in their music. If Suicide Silence did one thing right on their previous albums, it was display a love for what they’re doing. On this one? Not so much.
This exact problem shows up again on “The Zero” and “Conformity,” the album’s lowest points and possibly for the band as well. While the guitar solo in the latter is enjoyable, mostboth of the song just doesn’t seem like Suicide Silence or anything they would do, given that it’s the closest they’ll get to a ballad, probably. The problem is that there’s a lack of emotion in the music, whether it be due to the production choices or general disinterest that the members have in this sound. At least when death metal and deathcore bands like, for example, Thy Art is Murder put out another heavy song, you can feel the confidence and desire to keep pushing forward with their style.
However, as an antithesis to these slower parts, the band comes to life when pushing the envelope for how extreme they can get, especially given the album’s overall tone.. On the more aggressive parts of the album, be it the straight insanity of “Don’t Be Careful You Might Get Hurt” or the energized grooves of “Doris,” the band clearly functions at their best here and are showing evolution in their songwriting. The former track, while the title is utterly ridiculous, is without a doubt one of Suicide Silence’s career highlights. Fast, angry, and shifting dynamics while employing both clean and aggressive vocals, it’s an odd highlight for the album as it comes to a close, making you wish their was more stuff like this among the tracklisting. Even “Doris,” given the amount of hate it has gotten, becomes a better song by how lackluster some of the middling songs and moments are, which says something because it really is just an okay song.
Suicide Silence tried, and I’ll give them that much. There’s moments of solid material, and even the rare instance where the band seems to be making a natural progression from their past endeavors. Yet without a lack of passion and a weak attempt at including clean vocals, the band haven’t achieved all that much that’s worth pursuing in the future. While there are things to enjoy, the clean vocals don’t feel all that well handled and too forced at times, as well as the general songwriting is lacking in what should be a more enjoyable album. Better luck next time, I guess.
Suicide Silence is available everywhere now. I thought I might as well show you best song the album has to offer below, so you can listen to “Don’t Be Careful You Might Hurt Yourself” and experience the best this album has to offer.
