Their 2020 album, Become The Hunter was a return to form with their brutal blend of death metal/deathcore and that album is fucking punishing!  So with album #7, Remember… You Must Die the band is not only still trying to get the vomitrocious taste out of everyone’s mouths from 2017, but also one-upping Become The Hunter.

No doubt Suicide Silence made a heavier and dare I say faster album.  And one of the reasons I am thrilled to be reviewing this album is I have been a Suicide Silence fan since their 2005 debut ep as well as knowing that members are fans of my vocal work on Internal Bleeding albums.

But I have been a big fan of deathcore for a long time and enough with the haters – because at the end of the day, Suicide Silence plays death metal and not just deathcore and christ or satan o dark lord this 12-song affair is streamlined and in yo face heavy AF!!

After a short intro “You Must Die” comes blasting through the speakers with a monster blast beat that gets into a nice 90’s era death metal speed with super-fast double bass over the gallop that gets back into the blast beat before the break-down and vocals of “You Will Die Alone” being growled at us.  The breakdown at the 2-minute mark is pure heavy deathcore break-down vintage Suicide Silence stylized violence!  The pinch harmonics are so lethal they went back in time and destroyed the Mayan Temples.

“Capable of Violence (N.F.W.)” is up next with amazing tones from Hernan “Eddie” Hermida continuing to prove, especially since his All Shall Perish days, he is still one of the best extreme metal vocalists out there.  His highs and gutturals are brutal bliss, one that original vocalist, Mitch (RIP metal brother) would be super proud of.  This track is mainly a mid-paced slam fest of core breakdowns ready to rip your face off.

“Kill Forever” starts with monstrous double bass, a killer rhythm section, which gets right into a monster blast beat then back into a lethal breakdown.  You will want to windmill and pick up change all damn day.  Ferocious lead guitar riffs, which quite honestly folks, are more rooted in death metal than deathcore.  Back into the blast beats and back into the breakdowns with heaving breakdowns and a nice drum roll, before scorching earth with yet another blast beat.  This ending breakdown is most excellent and you cannot catch your breath because “God Be Damned” jumps right out the gates with a super killer blast beat and more heaving slams and some cool softer styled guitar riffing, before the mid-paced pummel fest erupts.  The song goes into a slower slam part that almost had me thinking of early Acacia Strain, but this gets into more atmospherics and is pretty melodic, which then starts to resemble melo-death moments.  The break-down after this part is pounding!  Really a terrific moment.

I can go on and on, but I will stop with the fastest opening moment in Suicide Silence history with “Endless Dark”.  Check out that opening blast beat!!  Christ it’s on fire with the dual vocal tones over this part.  The song is all over the place with mid-paced madness and we even get a cool little guitar solo that uses the whammy bar and the solo goes over the blast beat too.  The song has pinch harmonics and some terrific double bass moments.  At only 2.20 “Endless Dark” is a monstrous death metal song folks that grinds you up, spits you out and leaves most abruptly!

Remember… You Must Die is the most brutal Suicide Silence album since their untouchable debut The Cleansing.  I have this really cool cleansing shirt with a dark green background with the logo in black and the dude with the shards of glass front and center-guess what shirt I am whipping out right after I submit this review?

In album #7 Suicide Silence shows they are getting better with age and they incorporated a lot more death metal influence on this.  You’ll year Suffocation moments as well as some European death metal sections/melodies all mixed in with the signature Suicide Silence sound and deathcore moments.  The production is pristine, clear, sharp and believe it or not has some rawness to it, which I appreciate quite a lot.  The album cover is one of the best the band has ever had as well, super striking and better than their last several album covers.

Remember… You Must Die is definitely a killer album and trust me when I say the band has upped their game, even since their last killer album, as well as trowing, (yes I meant to spell throwing like this-I’m from NY), in more death metal moments.  In some respect I would say this is a death metal album with deathcore smatterings throughout.  Brutal shit!

But then it all went to shit. The band’s 2017 self released effort saw Hermida and co develop into a more Nu metal/Korn/Deftones style, including clean ‘singing’, personified by the single “Doris“. And the critics and fans responded with largely overwhelming negativity. The album was the band’s lowest selling  and most critically panned album in their once promising career.

Well, the band apparently heard the critics and have responded aptly with a monster album that returns to the band’s signature deathcore style, and more importantly Hermida does not sing at all.

I’m no Suicide Silence fanboy, finding 2007s The Cleansing and 2009s No Time to Bleed, merely decent deathcore records, but Become the Hunter is a beast. It has just a few Nu metal jumpdafuckup strains from before, as far as some of the breakdowns, but for the most part, the album is a pure, old school deathcore beatdown, with some of the band’s heaviest moments of their discography. And did I mention there is no singing/whining?

After “Meltdown” starts the album with 2 minute intro of sorts, “Two Steps” set the tone and shows Suicide Silence have learned from their misstep with a fucking monster slow churn and breakdown filled assault. “Feel Alive” follows suit, and it’s clear the band wanted to open the album with a pummeling statement, and they do. Steady chugger, “Love Me to Death”,  and “Into Hiding” are the first songs that hints a little at the band’s Nu metal foray, but again still no singing, as Hermida keeps it strictly in growl and scream territory.”Death’s Anxiety” is what I would consider more of a traditional deathcore track with ample blast beats, deep bellows and breakdowns.

“Skin Tight” initially had me worried, with its moody atmospheric opening and I fully expected Hermida to break into his Chino Moreno impression.  But ultimately as the song builds, it successfully melds the sound the band were going for on the last album, but adds one of the band’s strongest ever lopes/breakdowns making the track an album standout.

“The Scythe” also had me a bit worried for its first few bars, but quickly delivers a crushing opening groove/lurch that’s sure to get pits in a frenzy, but its moody mid song break as well as following crushing song “Serene Obscene” is clearly the vision the band has had for a while but now has successfully implemented it after a failed attempt on the last album.  And did I mention, that vision has no singing now?

Closers “Disaster Valley” and the title track the album with two more traditional deathcore bruisers and I can confidently say that Become the Hunter is an excellent album. And I have to give respect to Suicide Silence for responding to a almost career derailing misstep,  learning from their mistakes, and releasing an album that erases the last effort with brutal swagger and just enough development. Oh and no singing…..

SUICIDE SILENCEwill release You Can’t Stop Me, their first album to feature new vocalist Eddie Hermida (ex- ALL SHALL PERISH) and their first since the tragic loss of singer Mitch Lucker, on July 11 (Europe), July 14 (UK) and July 15, 2014 (North America) via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. You Can’t Stop Me was producedand mixedby Steve Evetts (SEPULTURA, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, WARBRINGER) and features artwork by Tim Minarzik of Throne Media & Design. The album also includes some special guest appearances by Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) andGeorge “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (CANNIBAL CORPSE).

GuitaristMark Heylmunrecently explained:“Mitch left behind a set of lyrics with the title You Can’t Stop Me. This gave us chills to say the least and we knew we had the title and title track. This filled us with inspiration for writing sessions to empower us and empower you, the supporters ofSUICIDE SILENCE.

“We as a band (and Steve Evetts) worked tirelessly on this record and I’m not gonna say we can’t wait for you to hear it. I’m gonna tell you that you have to hear it. You have to sit and listen from start to finish. I’m not gonna tell you this is our best record we’ve ever done. I’m gonna tell you this is the record we care more about than any record we’ve ever done. This is a record that we fought, bled, sweated, and fucking cried over.”
You Can’t Stop Me standard jewelcase track list:

1. M.A.L.

2. Inherit The Crown

3. Cease To Exist

4. Sacred Words

5. Control(feat. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher)

6. Warrior

7. You Can’t Stop Me

8. Monster Within (feat. Greg Puciato)

9. We Have All Had Enough

10. Ending Is The Beginning

11. Don’t Die

12. Ouroboros
You Can’t Stop Me special edition track list:
1. M.A.L.

2. Inherit The Crown

3. Cease To Exist

4. Sacred Words

5. Control (feat. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher)

6. Warrior

7. You Can’t Stop Me

8. Monster Within (feat. Greg Puciato)

9. We Have All Had Enough

10. Ending Is The Beginning

11. Don’t Die

12. Ouroboros

Bonus Tracks:
13. Blue Haze

14. Last Breath (HATEBREED cover)

+ Bonus DVD ​ (featuring studio & touring footage)​

You Can’t Stop Me vinyl track list:

Side One:

1. M.A.L.

2. Inherit The Crown

3. Cease To Exist

4. Sacred Words

5. Control (feat. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher)

6. Warrior

Side Two:

1. You Can’t Stop Me

2. Monster Within (feat. Greg Puciato)

3. We Have All Had Enough

4. Ending Is The Beginning

5. Don’t Die

6. Ouroboros

Vocalist Eddie Hermida most recently made his official live debut with the band, during this year’s installment of the Soundwave Festival in Australia. An interview with the band right before their first show of that tour can be viewed here.

Like the two aforementioned deathcore darlings, Suicide Silence have become more focused and serious and improved their blending of Hot Topic hardcore and death metal. This second album sees Suicide Silence become even more serious (there’s no “pull the trigger bitch”, here) and introduces some menacing, layering and atmospheres (even some synths) to the crumbling breakdowns and calamitous blast beats. Just listen to the excellent and surprisingly moody yet brutal “Lifted”, instrumental “…And Then She Bled” the truly thunderous “Smoke” and lurching closer “Disengage”. There are plenty of straightforward, expected deathcore tenets such as “Something Invisible”. “No Time to Bleed”, “Suffer”, the tribal tinged “Wasted”, “Your Creation” and “Genocide” which all bring the pain in typically pummeling upper tier deathcore fashion.

Still, Mitch Lucker uses the higher register scream to much and the production of Machine (Demon Hunter, 18 Visions, Lamb of God, Clutch) is a bit too forced, especially the sometimes overbearing snare drum. However, it is his first true deathcore record and he simply may have been trying to hard too make it as heavy as possible. The guitar tone is crushing though.

With No Time To Bleed, Suicide Silence have added to the likes of Oceano, Rose Funeral, Earth From Above, Impending Doom, Molotov Solution and In the Midst of Lions for a surprisingly solid year for the much maligned genre.

Well I hate to break it but the likes of Whitechapel, Impending Doom, Misericordiam, genre leaders Despised Icon and now Suicide Silence have proven this year that this sound has plenty of shelf life still.

Suicide Silence in particular haven taken impressive steps on this full length to contest that they are not a gimmicky brOOtal myspace band for your profile page. They have proved this by doing the groundwork via their demo and mini cd and solidified their areas and crafted an excellent debut long player.

The Cleansing, valiantly conforms to all of the Deathcore trimmings (if you don’t know yet – breakdowns, blasts, nasty death metal riffs, dual guttural and sneering vocals) thus resulting in an incendiary yet comfortable breeze block of brutality. Clearly the continuous touring and time in the studio (together with a handsome budget supplied by Century Media as this sounds mint) has seen them hone their grasp of their metal influences which take precedence here. That’s not to say that the core influences have been totally eradicated but they are more confined in comparison to earlier material.

Compositions such as ‘The Disease,’ present tighter drumming, darker riffs and a far more focused delivery by the band. The blast beats in this piece are particularly impressive, blazing feverently before relaxing into defter patterns to complement the other instruments. Now whilst the blasts are strong don’t be expecting no Nick Barker or Hellhammer type velocity, not yet anyway, boy needs time. The overall structure of the song also shows the band’s growth, it twists and turns, piling riffs on top of each other before lurching to its juddering (and of course expected) breakdown at the climax. Another strong standout is ‘In A Photograph,’ which again duly executes the stylistic trimmings with deft aplomb but contains some of the album’s most shuddering breakdowns.

Of course the dilemma Suicide Silence now faces is where to go from here. Being their big debut one could have anticipated a compromise, allowing a few fluffier and poppy elements to creep in but they have stoically refuted from doing so. However seeing as I cannot see Deathcore lasting out too much longer in its current phase it will be intriguing to see whether the incorporation of such elements will be to tempting to refute.