Tag: Century Media

Suicide Silence – Remember…You Must Die

Remember…You Must Die Album Cover Art

Suicide Silence – Remember…You Must Die
Century Media
Release Date: 10/03/23
Running Time: 40:00
Review by Rory Bentley
7.5/10

Today we’ll be looking at one of the big boy releases of the 2023 Metal calendar from returning Deathcore legends Suicide Silence. Deathcore has undergone an unlikely and remarkable resurgence in recent years, going from a redundant genre seemingly on its last legs to something at the very forefront of modern heavy music. White Chapel have evolved into genre-splicing critical darlings, Lorna Shore are poised for mega-stardom and Shadow of Intent have brought a classical, cinematic finesse to accompany the beatdowns and pig squeals of old. During this period onetime scene leaders and pioneers Suicide Silence have had to deal with some frankly ridiculous backlash for their ambitious but flawed self-titled effort that in turn lead to them serving up an incredibly uninspiring SS-by-numbers follow up that made me feel very sad that a once great force was beginning to tread water.

Now that the dust is settled, and Deathcore is thriving again, this latest release gives a better idea of how the band will move forward and more importantly answers the question of whether they are still relevant in a genre that seemed to some to have moved on without them. I won’t keep you in suspense, I am very happy to confirm that there’s life in the old dogs yet. 

In a landscape where their peers are leaning ever further towards the grandiose and ornate, Suicide Silence have produced an album that essentially proves that they’re still the best at kicking the shit out of you with disgusting riffs, absurd beatdowns and absolutely vile vocals. Is there room for further growth? Yes plenty, but this is definitely a big step in the right direction.

The most immediate distinction from predecessor “Become The Hunter” is a much more raw and nasty production job, courtesy of Taylor Young, which recalls the halcyon days of the disgusting breakthrough “The Cleansing”. ‘You Must Die’ sees the band sounding positively feral in a way that sets them apart nicely from many of their more slick-sounding peers.

Eddie Hermida is also a big beneficiary of Young’s dedication to studio violence, sounding more fired up than he has in years as those paint stripping shrieks and bowel-loosening gutturals remind everyone why he is one of the best screamers in the game. Unlike many I enjoyed his unhinged croons on the self-titled album and it’s a shame to hear this side of his voice barely get a look in, but it’s hard to be mad when he’s busting a blood vessel at the end of the barbaric ‘Capable of Violence (N.F.W.)’.

Another strength of the record is the return of the band’s distorted version of personal empowerment. Despite the macabre surface-level lyrical themes of the likes of ‘Dying Life’ and the fantastically titled ‘Fucked Forever’, the classic Hardcore themes of backing yourself and living life to the full shine through beneath the grim wordplay.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a great time with this album, but I do still yearn for the band that used to lead the way for the genre, with final track ‘Full Void’ and its more measured build up and stunning lead work representing the only real experimentation to speak of here. If a new band dropped this record I’d be jumping for joy, but I hold these guys to a higher standard.

Nonetheless this is a definite righting of the ship and a thoroughly satisfying listen but I’ll be expecting a lot more from the next album if the band are to recapture “The Black Crown” of Deathcore.

‘Alter Of Self’ Official Video 

TRACKLISTING:
01. Remember…
02. You Must Die
03. Capable of Violence (N.F.W.)
04. Fucked For Life
05. Kill Forever
06. God Be Damned
07. Altar of Self
08. Endless Dark
09. The Third Death
10. Be Deceived 
11. Dying Life
12. Full Void

LINE-UP:
Chris Garza – guitar
Mark Heylmun – guitar
Eddie Hermida – vocals
Ernie Iniguez – drums
Dan Kenny – bass

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Amon Amarth Berserker World Tour 2019 w/Arch Enemy, At The Gates & Grand Magus – Manhattan Center, New York City, USA – 12/10/2019

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Amon Amarth Berserker World Tour 2019
w/Arch Enemy, At The Gates & Grand Magus
Manhattan Center, New York City, USA
12/10/2019
Review and Pictures by Andy Jansons

…And then came the day when Vikings took over New York. No, that is not a plot for a movie, but a real life event. An all Swedish line-up of Grand Magus, At The Gates, Arch Enemy and the mighty Amon Amarth rolled into NYC with the ‘Berserker World Tour’ North American leg. We all know that Amon Amarth can put on a show, but with these three metal beasts in support this was a spectacle for the ages!
The Manhattan Center was packed. While I wasn’t sure of the official count this was definitely a sold out show. First up on stage was Grand Magus, a heavy metal band from Stockholm who delivered a classic Heavy Metal sound that was melodic and often catchy. Their set received a warm reception from the audience, and while not as popular as the following bands they were watched by an already full room. Nobody was skipping the opening acts.

https://www.facebook.com/grandmagusofficial/

Next to play were Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal legends At The Gates. Supporting their latest album “To Drink From The Night Itself” (2018), they opened with the title song, followed by ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’ and ‘At War With Reality’ which were also the respective title songs from their previous two studio albums. To note; they played only tracks from these three albums and skipped all three of their earlier works!
Although the band were in a prolonged hiatus between 1996-2007 they sustained their fans and popularity and are still recognized as trailblazers of the ‘New Wave of Swedish Melodic Death Metal’ and still have three active founding members, vocalist Tomas Lindberg, drummer Adrian Erlandsson and bassist Jonas Björler.
At The Gates wrapped up their set with the closing track from “At War With Reality” entitled ‘The Night Eternal’ which was loud and with its melodic outro stamped an exclamation point on their powerful performance.

02 At The Gateshttps://www.facebook.com/AtTheGatesOfficial/

Next came Arch Enemy who are probably enjoy the most commercial success compared with the previous two bands, thanks to more melodic choruses and of course their Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, who is widely considered as one of the most beautiful metal female artists. She does bring a whole different dimension to this musical style, making it more attractive to a larger audience. Metal elitists might not be happy, but their success speaks for itself!
While their set was only eight songs, it was packed with metal anthems one after another; ‘The World Is Yours’, ‘War Eternal’, ‘The Eagle Flies Alone’ and ‘Nemesis’ are known worldwide. Considering that the stage was quite small, to help conceal the headliners stage set, throughout the performance Alissa was aggressive in her movements around the stage and quite a few times jumped off the drum riser. She also sung mainly with unclean vocals! Whilst Arch Enemy have been writing new material, their latest album “Will To Power” dates back to 2017.

03 Arch Enemyhttps://www.facebook.com/archenemyofficial/

Amon Amarth are frequent guests stateside, and every time their shows are spectacular, even if they are not headlining. This time, as the main act, they really brought there ‘A’ game. There was a giant Viking helmet positioned centre stage with drummer Jocke Wallgren above it and guitarists Olavi Mikkonen & Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and vocalist Johan Hegg at the front trying to avoid random Vikings, serpents and other creatures appearing on stage. There was a lot of smoke and fire… a LOT of fire and random explosions mixed in for good measure. Why not? It was an Amon Amarth show after all!
The band who are currently supporting their latest studio album “Berserker”, which saw the light of day back in May of this year, opened with the first single from that album ‘Raven’s Flight’. From the start we entered into a loud and powerful Viking world, just don’t mention ‘Viking Metal’ to the band. Even though everything they do is about Vikings and Scandinavian mythology they prefer to be labelled Melodic Death Metal. So it was Melodic Death Metal about Vikings!!
The first creature came on stage during the track ‘Deceiver Of The Gods’, a fantastic demonic looking warrior with burning eyes and long horns. This was the title track from their 2013 album and, altogether, their setlist was pretty comprehensive including material from six of their eleven studio albums to date!
Amon Amarth completed their set with another bang and one of their most well-known songs from the earlier days ‘Twilight Of The Thunder God’. With that, an epic, visually and sonically, exceptional performance came to an end and their Viking ship sailed away from NYC harbour until the next time.

04 Amon Amarthhttps://www.facebook.com/amonamarth/

 
FURTHER LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/ManhattanCenter
https://www.facebook.com/nuclearblast.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/centurymedia/
https://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords/
 
 
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Andy Jansons and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
All photos courtesy of Andy Jansons