Artist: Suicide Silence
Label: Century Media
Release: 2011
Runtime: 39:19
Rating: 3.5/5
Fans of metal extremes, welcome home! Suicide Silence’s third studio effort shows the band at their most mature yet. On the production side, Suicide Silence once again lean harder into a live, raw feel, which works wonders for fans of the band by bringing them even closer to the kind of uncompromising, raging aggression this quintet unleashes.
The elements that defined the band on their first two albums are fully intact on “The Black Crown”. Technically speaking, when it comes to the dynamics of the dizzying breakdowns that run through the new material and the superbly highlighted destructiveness of the low-tuned riffing, which at times flirts with the elemental quality of a Pantera thrash riff, “The Black Crown” is a record that stands fully behind what it does.
Deathcore with plenty of half-step solutions and zero tolerance for melody. An element that’s essential for stacking up apocalyptic vistas and making listeners’ ears bleed! And that goes for the new Suicide Silence too, who only dig that range deeper.
Still, when you get down to the details, that already well-used arsenal of the two guitarists gets a bit dull, as they often repeat themselves in their solutions. The limited range of the guitar riffing, on the other hand, is effectively smashed open by the band’s excellent screamer Mitch Luker, who, you can rest assured, didn’t treat himself to so much as an hour of vocal practice in the time between the last release and this one. His dynamic switching from a “death growl” to a “painful” shriek works flawlessly again, and Mitch remains a first-rate embodiment of doom-laden dynamics, rescuing the occasional stiffness and the laid-back feel of both guitarists staying inside their tried-and-tested formulas for picking guitar phrases.
The band has pulled a few extra tricks here to shake up the songs. The vocal duet on Smashed, which, by the way, rests on a great Exodus – Pantera riff groove bounce, is a prime example of how well Luker’s and Frank Mullen’s (Suffocation) vocal approaches fit together. It’s a very welcome addition, and the song itself stands out on the album in terms of quality. The other guest vocalist, on Witness The Addiction, which is also the album’s longest track at a good five and a half minutes, is Jonathan Davis (Korn). With his clean vocal melody and distinctive vocal approach, he brings a feeling of Korn’s nu-metal principle crossed with deathcore. The track, which calms the album down a little in the middle, probably won’t sit well with those of you who defend the band’s stylistic purity, but even so, the band doesn’t lose its ominous, doom-laden focus on this song!
Although the album doesn’t bring anything earth-shattering, it’s arranged so that it hits at a far more intense level than its predecessor, which makes it Suicide Silence’s most destructive album yet. All the tracks, apart from the instrumental and, to put it mildly, unnecessary interlude March To The The Balck Crown, are tailor-made to channel the energy of Suicide Silence’s raw, uncompromising, rabidly satanic march on stage. Those of you who know the stage power of Suicide Silence, which the guys showed off not long ago on a visit to the Slovenian capital, know what that means. And that’s the core focal point the band followed in making “The Black Crown”. To be the most brutal. In their own lane, Suicide Silence, even with their third album, sit right at the very tip of the sonic terror that the “deathcore” genre can embody!
Lineup
Mitch Lucker – vocals
Chris Garza – guitar
Mark Heylmun – guitar
Dan Kenny – bass
Alex Lopez – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Jonathan Davis – vocals on track 7
Frank Mullen – vocals on track 9
Production
Steve Evetts
Track list
1. Slaves to Substance
2. O.C.D.
3. Human Violence
4. You Only Live Once
5. Fuck Everything
6. March to the Black Crown
7. Witness the Addiction
8. Cross-Eyed Catastrophe
9. Smashed
10. The Only Thing that Sets Us Apart
11. Cancerous Skies
