Suicide Silence

You Can't Stop Me

Written by: EL on 02/09/2014 12:53:48

When Suicide Silence’s frontman Mitch Lucker passed away suddenly in 2012, the band were left with an unfeasible decision as to whether or not they would carry on as Suicide Silence. Having been one of the more successful bands in the deathcore genre, and having had one of the most well loved vocalists at their helm, it was surely not an easy task to fill the gaping hole that was left behind at his passing. It is easy to assume that whoever was next in line to take over from Mitch would face heavy scrutiny and criticism. Enter Eddie Hermida, formerly of All Shall Perish. Hermida was already a highly respected vocalist when he was still with All Shall Perish but after joining Suicide Silence for their fourth album, it would appear that the overall consensus is that he is a fitting replacement and that he has stepped up his game.

“You Can’t Stop Me”, was released to an uneasy audience, not knowing if Hermida could carry the weight that Suicide Silence bore on his shoulders, especially with the promise that this was going to be new and something we hadn’t heard before. Upon hearing the album for the first time I was instantly taken back to an older Suicide Silence, reminiscent of “The Cleansing” and “No Time To Bleed”. This album, as a whole, served as a fitting tribute to Mitch’s passing, especially since the title track, “You Can’t Stop Me”, featured some of his last written lyrics, which shine through eerily upon hearing them. Intro track “M.A.L” wordlessly evokes the passing of Mitch and set us up nicely for the rest of the album.

The first two tracks on the album, “Inherit The Crown”, which signifies again Mitch’s passing but more so the passing of the torch to Hermida, and “Cease To Exist”, which features Hermida’s obvious talent as a vocalist, blast open the field of opportunity with some exceptional guitar solos from Mark Heylum and plenty of blastbeats from Alex Lopez which serve up as an explosive opening to this album. “Sacred Words” brings the tone down a notch with a more melodic metalcore vibe, though the next song, “Control” blasts you straight back out of the depths with brutal undertones, featuring ferociously heavy vocals from Cannibal Corpse’s, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher whose presence undoubtedly made this song more potent and effective.

Now, after the opening tracks the album starts to change pace and reverses straight back into the same generic sound that has been heard from Suicide Silence before. The over exaggerated guitar-chugging and the support vocals of Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato in “Monster Within” fail to grip the imagination and fall flat when trying to raise any amount of interest. We finally come to “We Have All Had Enough” and some might say that this is how some might feel about the album at this point, but the re-recording of “Ending Is The Beginning” which featured on their debut self-titles EP drags us right back up to the heights of impressiveness. Everything is tighter and more methodical. It almost serves as a stepping-stone showing the transition of this band and how far they have come in the past few years. Upon closing, the track “Ouroboros” slows the tempo right down with some melody filled layers, and brings album to a slow and emotional end.

The most important track for me on this album was “You Can’t Stop Me” because it channelled Lucker’s spirit and rhythm effortlessly and showed Hermida making an astounding effort in taking over from him. It has to be said the Hermida certainly is in his own right a fantastic vocalist and therefore suits as a perfect replacement for the band. I, for one, and am very much looking forward to the future.

Download: You Can't Stop Me, Sacred Words, Ouroborous
For The Fans Of: Carnifex, Despised Icon, Job For A Cowboy
Listen: facebook.com/suicidesilence

Release date 14.07.2014
Nuclear Blast

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