Kev Rowland Released in 2014, Suicide Silence’s fourth album ‘You Can’t Stop Me” was the first without original lead vocalist Mitch Lucker who was killed in a motoboke crash in 2012, and the first to feature Hernan "Eddie" Hermida of All Shall Perish. Deathcore is a genre which seems to polarise quite a few people, and I note that Encyclopaedia Metallum do not include the genre on their site even though anyone who does not understand the subgenres of metal would think this should be there. For me it is still down to the band themselves and I have enjoyed some deathcore bands, and others not so much. I did once walk out of an event to get a beer when Suicide Silence were playing, not because I disliked the genre, but I disliked the band.

All the lyrics were written by Hermida apart from two (including the title) which were by Lucker, and it is obvious the band had a lot to prove with this album as it is always difficult to keep going when a key member dies, yet it is not unusual for a band to come back with their best ever release (think ‘Back In Black’). The stand out track on this is “Control” which features none other than George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher providing his dulcet tones which is strangely reminiscent on Dom Lawson on the live "Planet Smasher". There is a high energy throughout the album, and a great deal of complexity, but the band were obviously incredible conscious of paying homage to Mitch, and re-recorded "Ending Is the Beginning" from their debut EP with Hermida putting himself out there. I am not a huge fan of Suicide Silence, and am unlikely to change that based on this, but this is the best album of theirs I have come across and if like me you have rapidly passed them by then this may well be the place to start.

Kev Rowland Suicide Silence are one of those bands who have emotionally been through a great deal, as after three albums their singer Mitch Lucker was killed in a motorbike accident. The band decided to keep going, and eventually found a replacement in Eddie Hermida and released ‘You Can’t Stop me’ in 2014. After the trauma, this is the re-set, and they have brought in famed producer Ross Robinson to help them do just that. Now, I saw the original band at a Megadeth-headlined festival in Auckland back in 2010, and cam remember going for a beer as that was more interesting than watching the band. Now, I like deathcore as much as the next person, and I know these guys have recently been touring with Whitechapel who I admire a great deal (saw them support Trivium and it was awesome), but there is something about these guys that I just can’t get past.

I don’t know exactly what it is, but their mix of different styles always makes me think that they’re trying way too hard. They have songs, or at least bits of songs, that just blow my mind, but there are also way too many others where I just don’t see the point. Ross has done a superb job, as always, and I must confess that the more I have listened to this the more I have liked it, but it just isn’t for me. It isn’t for me, and I am sure that there plenty that are going to rave over it, but there is far more music out there that I would rather listen to.

J-Man In my experience with extreme metal, deathcore seems to be one hell of an inconsistent genre. Although you'll occasionally come across a top-notch band like Born of Osiris, the overwhelming number of untalented and generic acts makes this style of music seem like a bit of a minefield. Suicide Silence are among the more popular bands on the modern deathcore scene - this album actually reached Number 28 on the U.S. Billboard Charts - so I figured now's as good a time as any to finally give this American act a shot. I'll say that right from the get-go, The Black Crown is a hell of a lot better than a lot of modern deathcore out there. It's clear that Suicide Silence are gifted musicians, and their technical sensibilities proove that they are far-distanced from the herds of talentless deathcore bands on the scene. The Black Crown falls into the trap of uninspired songwriting, generic riffs, and laughable lyrics, but this effort isn't quite as pathetic as I would've expected. I don't enjoy this one very much, but it could've been worse. If the band would get rid of the pointless breakdowns and stupid lyrics, The Black Crown could've easily been a much more impressive observation.

The music here is fairly standard deathcore, but the death metal influence tends to fortunately outweigh the hardcore influence. There are quite a few cool death metal riffs and melodic sections contained throughout The Black Crown, yet no single song is enjoyable from beginning to end thanks to the weak breakdowns. I wish the band would either focus on creating solid music without always building up to a formulaic breakdown, or at least put a bit more effort into making the breakdowns interesting - so many tracks are nearly destroyed by boring two-note grooves that offer nothing meaningful to the song itself. Even though the compositions may not be the most interesting things in the world, at least they are executed well. Suicide Silence are talented musicians... maybe that's why it's such a shame to hear them using this talent to play uninspired riffs matched with stupid lyrics. Songs like "You Only Live Once" and "Fuck Everything" contain lyrics that are laughable at best - repeating "fuck everything!" 100 times does not strike me as something particularly insightful or meaningful. Unfortunately, the generic and over-polished production doesn't make the music here seem any more inspired either.

If I had to briefly sum up Suicide Silence, I would say that they are technically outstanding musicians playing compositions that are too sterile and emotionless to even mildly pique my interest. As is this issue with far too many deathcore acts, the breakdowns are just boring as hell and anything else that is even slightly interesting never takes precedent in the actual songwriting. The Black Crown isn't a particularly terrible album - it has a few decent bits played by professional musicians - but it's far from anything worth more than just a couple of listens. I'd say a weak 2 stars are deserved here. This one is only recommended to big fans of deathcore.

Wilytank Since Suicide Silence's first two albums aren't to be found on Grooveshark, I must make do with their latest helping: 'The Black Crown'.

Suicide Silence's expertise seems to be slower paced deathcore with a certain amount to technicality. "Slaves to Substance" and "O.C.D." seem like prolonged breakdowns though the former does have some interesting melodic feel to it. The third song "Human Violence" is an example of this band playing faster than normal. It's obviously not by very much.

Looking particularly at the music in the song "Fuck Everything", you can really see how inane the riffing is. The chugging is annoying, but it's what this band is apparently know for.

Songs seven through nine feature guest vocals. The first one, "Witness the Addiction", has Jonathan Davis from Korn. He's featured on a clean vocal section near the two minute mark of the song. Unfortunately, it's the best part of the song, because the music also takes up a melodic stance. It repeats around the 4:30 mark to attempt to keep things interesting.

The next is "Cross-Eyed Catastrophe". Here we have Alexia Rodriguez from mall-core band Eyes Set to Kill doing some clean back round "ehhh"s. She does sings actual lyrics for a line at the 2:12 mark. Much less interesting than the song with Jonathan Davis.

The third of these songs is "Smashed", with Frank Mullen of Suffocation on guest vox. Thank god this song is faster, otherwise this would have been very boring. Frank's first section is at the 0:22 mark. He ends some lines already sang by resident vocalist Mitch Lucker and in places, screams together with him. The song as a whole starts out interesting, but gets less so as the song goes on until it finally ends with a stupid breakdown.

As the remaining two songs play out, some anomalies in the otherwise boring deathcore slowness includes the inclusion of acoustic guitar on "The Only Thing That Sets Us Apart" and one more fast, yet still uninteresting song titled "Cancerous Skies".

Suicide Silence had a pretty bad rep in the past, and their 2011 offering does little to influence me to discharge the detractors. The Black Crown is no crown jewel.