Author: Primož Novak
Video: Primož Novak
Venue: Kino Šiška / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 03.12.2014
Attendance: 300
The return of deathcore champions Suicide Silence definitely promised a lot. A pretty decent number of people had confirmed on the Facebook event, which raised hopes that Kino Šiška would be nicely packed. But an hour before the show it turned out those expectations were way off. Only about two thirds of the Facebook confirmations actually showed up. The whole thing would probably have felt more authentic if it had gone down in Gala Hala at Metelkova.
Suicide Silence were joined on tour by Australian brutality merchants Thy Art Is Murder and American act Fit For An Autopsy. The latter were first on stage with their take on deathcore, which didn’t differ all that much from the rest of today’s deathcore bands. So: death metal and hardcore riffs, fast drums, the odd solo and breakdowns. As an opener it wasn’t bad at all, and the only weak spot was the singer, who kept getting lost in the mix and also lacked real depth in his vocals, which didn’t pair well with the low-tuned guitars. The crowd stood still right up to the last song, too. Only a handful of people started a moshpit, which is pretty tough in Kino Šiška thanks to the tiered hall.
With the Australians Thy Art Is Murder, the picture was different. Their second album Hate was well received everywhere. Thy Art Is Murder have a slightly different approach. Above all, they’ve got a feel for brutality, which comes through in the fast parts backed by blast beats, of course! The band delivered a more than solid set, and plenty of attention naturally went to vocalist CJ McMahon, who has a truly brutal growl, one you can compare to many legendary death metal growlers and deathcore growlers like Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel) and Brook Reeves (Impending Doom). Thy Art Is Murder don’t bring anything new to the table, but their intensity somehow makes them special, and only the breakdowns sound pretty unnecessary at times. Still, the crowd welcomed them warmly. Half the hall was moving, and the first stage divers even showed up. The Australian extremists pulled off a convincing show despite their bassist being absent, with the guitarists from Fit For An Autopsy filling in.
That left only Suicide Silence, who after the intro M.A.L. hit the crowd with Inherit The Crown from their latest album You Can’t Stop Me (review HERE). Of course, all eyes were on vocalist Hernan »Eddie« Hermida (formerly of All Shall Perish), who stepped into the shoes of the late Mitch Lucker. But Hermida isn’t Mitch, his voice is different, and he doesn’t try to imitate Lucker either. He’s a different person who gave the band a fresh start. It quickly became clear that he’s an excellent frontman with more than a decade of experience. He knows how to tie the set together, and his cynical comments got plenty of laughs. Among other things, Hermida also joked about his former band like this: »If you want to see All Shall Perish, go to California or check them out on YouTube«.
The new songs got a solid response, but the older ones like Unanswered, No Pity for a Coward, Wake Up and You Only Live Once drove the crowd even wilder. The stage divers just kept coming, and the front rows were in the moshpit nonstop. This was undoubtedly a wilder crowd than at most other metal shows. The band was tight, more than up to standard, and you could see the members were hungry for the stage and wanted to present their material as convincingly as possible. Sadly, Suicide Silence called it a night after an hour, having played all their hits. Satisfying, but too short.
Suicide Silence’s comeback went over well despite the poor turnout. Plenty of doubts were put to rest. On the flip side, the band will need a bit more time before fans get used to the new vocalist.
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