Band:	Suicide Silence
Album:	The Black Crown
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	July 12, 2011
Guest review by:	s7mon

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 [feat. Jonathan Davis]
08. Cross-Eyed Catastrophe
09. Smashed [feat. Frank Mullen]
10. The Only Thing That Sets Us Apart
11. Cancerous Skies
12. Revival Of Life [Limited Delux Edition track]
13. Superbeast [Rob Zombie cover][iTunes Edition track]

When you look at the comments section below one of their videos on YouTube, the words that you'll find there are most often "gay," "fag," "shit" or a combination of these. We're all aware how hated Suicide Silence and deathcore are in general, but whether we like it or not, these young Americans have become really big. Ok, their debut album, The Cleansing, was a mediocre deathcore record. Their second LP, No Time To Bleed, showed a band developing and even though it was based on deathcore structures, it contained more departures from the previously chosen genre and more experiments, for example wider and wiser selection of electronic samples. In a nutshell, it was a better CD. Now we have The Black Crown, which is a proof that Suicide Silence do not intend to stand still. Based on the genre they have helped to create, they have become a trademark of and also bear the burden of being its scapegoat, they are on their way of creating something on their own. What I mean is that they distanced themselves from other deathcore groups and when you listen to them and compare to, let's say, Oceano (yuck!), you can clearly see a difference.

There are fewer breakdowns, which may sound like a relief for many, because this is probably the most irritating feature of deathcore. Second thing that could be described with the word "irritating" is Mitch Lucker's vocals. For many fans he is the true face of the band and the reason they listen to Suicide Silence, but he didn't really stand out when you compared him with ten other singers. But on this record he broadened his vocals range. Sure, he still uses his shriek and growl, but it's nice to hear his normal voice (no, he doesn't do "clean singing," don't worry), for example in the beginning of "You Only Live Once" or in "Human Violence." Sometimes his voice is let in through some effect. Not really inventive, but it makes the album less monotonous. Compared to other deathcore CDs, this one is much more groovy. That's where you can hear the "core" part that's not "metalcore," but truly "hardcore." Listen to the aforementioned "Human Violence" (one of my favourites by the way). You can find a lot of death metal riffs as well ("O.C.D.").

Guests are also worth a mention. Frank Mullen of the mighty Suffocation lends his voice on a killer "Smashed." He sounds like a perfect man to let Suicide Silence gain some credibility as a "death" rather than "core" band, but his participation doesn't really bring in anything. Alexia Rodriguez of Eyes Set To Kill's occasional "oohhh" and "ahhh" during "Cross-Eyed Catastrophe" fits the song surprisingly well. But I guess the most controversial person here is Jonathan Davies. The band have said many times that Korn's always been a huge inspiration for them so it must've been a dream come true. But Davies really spoils the whole song. "Witness the Addiction" could've easily been a true highlight of The Black Crown, but it's destroyed by the chorus sung by [band[Korn[/band]'s singer. Thankfully, we have to listen to this butchery only twice during the track.

The coolest thing about The Black Crown is that you can say something interesting about every single piece in here, because each has something fresh to offer. The problem with bands of every genre you can think of is that you can't see a difference between songs and they all merge into one mass. Suicide Silence got rid of that problem which makes it a really good record that makes you want to listen to it over and over again. I hope it will shut the mouths of all the naysayers.