SUICIDE SILENCE - The Black Crown CD Review

ARTIST: Suicide Silence
TITLE: The Black Crown
YEAR: 2011
LABEL: Century Media
REVIEWED BY: Caroline Restiaux

For a band that has been together for only a few short years (since 2005) Suicide Silence has already proven that they have a place in the world of metal. The Black Crown is the 3rd full length album for the deathcore quintet. This album places them as one of the best and also one of the less cookie cutter bands in the sub-genre. I myself am not one of the biggest fans of deathcore but I have to say these guys have always captured my attention.

The album has a ton of double-bass drumming and down-tuned guitar work which is to be expected from the band. It's nothing new for the guys and I guess the saying 'If it ain't broke then don't try to fix it' is well suited for this release. The music, arrangements and lyrics were nothing new for them or even the sub-genre. What annoyed me a bit was the over simplistic lyrics in some of the songs. I was not impressed by 'Fuck Everything' and although it was catchy it just seemed to have been a bit repetitive for my liking.

The album at times drifted into a world of Slipknot and Korn, at one point I thought I was listening to a Korn track and then low and behold I hear Jonathan Davis' guest vocals on "Witness The Addiction". It kind of makes sense for them to have him on one of their albums seeing that Korn has been an influential piece in their music from what I hear. Also appearing in the guest vocal department are the growls of Frank Mullen from Death Metal act Suffocation in the song "Smashed".

So in a nutshell if you are already a fan of Suicide Silence then you'll get what you paid for and exactly what you would expect from them. If you are new to the band and the whole deathcore sub-genre then be prepared to get a fair share (or should I say excessive amount) of blast-beats and breakdowns. Suicide Silence reach the climax of what deathcore really is. I rather enjoyed the album but it won't be making any of my top lists for this year.

TRACKLISTING:

01. Slaves To Substance
02. O.C.D.
03. Human Violence
04. You Only Live Once
05. Fuck Everything
06. March To The Black Crown
07. Witness The Addiction
08. Cross-Eyed Catastrophe
09. Smashed
10. The Only Thing That Sets Us Apart
11. Cancerous Skies