Suicide Silence, the Californian five-piece deathcore outfit, are back with their fifth, self-titled album, released on February 24th 2017.
Known for a hard, deathcore metal sound, the guys of Suicide Silence took a turn and morphed their traditional sound with this new album. The group has already received negative reactions from upset fans to a petition for the band to halt the album release itself.
The key to reviewing an album that had such a negative reaction from fans before its release was to have an open mind. So, what I did was go into this review with not a single expectation. The album itself is not a bad album. But when you pair it with Suicide Silence’s iconic and well known sound is where the lines good and bad album collide. So please note, this album review is based on my personal feelings with an open mind.
Opening track “Doris” has some of the groups more traditional hard hitting drums and vocals from lead singer Eddie Hermida. There’s a wicked brief bass breakdown as well. It’s a pretty incredible song when you separate it from the expectations that you get when you are told “this is a Suicide Silence song”.
“Silence” is a unique track, it kind of has a Dillinger Escape Plan-esque sound to it. The song transitions between multiple sounds fluidly with no hesitation. Which in a way, is refreshing but definitely unique.
“Listen” almost sounds like the guys of Suicide Silence were going for a Korn sounding approach. The heavy bassline is very reminiscent of Korn’s traditional sound. The only thing that really sets the song apart is the vocals that much harder.
Speaking of sounding like other bands, I had to listen to “Dying in a Red Room” a few times. It absolutely floored me when I listened to it the first time because it came across almost like A Perfect Circle. Now I have been a fan of APC for years, and to hear something similar almost copycat like to their sound is a huge feat to take on.
“Hold Me Up, Hold Me Down” is the closest track to the traditional Suicide Silence sound. Hard hitting vocals and intense guitar and drums backing it up did make me one happy girl when this track started playing. However, following it up is “Run”. “Run” once again like many songs previously on the album, has a likeness to another artist. This time it is almost a Deftones sound.
There’s a couple other tracks that round out the album but overall, the album is very well produced and is definitely a head turner for the group.
I am not too sure if the guys of Suicide Silence are searching for a new sound and just are experimenting with this album to see what is a “hit” and what is a “miss”. Overall, the album did disappoint me a bit from a Suicide Silence fan standpoint. But, from an overall composition approach, I must say there are some solid tracks on the album that deserved to be heard regardless of who it comes from.
Suicide Silence, Suicide Silence Track Listing:
- “Doris”
- “Silence”
- “Listen”
- “Dying in a Red Room”
- “Hold Me Up, Hold Me Down”
- “Run”
- “The Zero”
- “Conformity”
- “Don’t Be Careful, You Might Hurt Yourself”
