Suicide Silence

No Time To Bleed

Written by: AP on 13/08/2009 20:09:21

Suicide Silence's debut album "The Cleansing" was probably the most violent, disgusting album to have found its way to my playlist, ever, and there it sits among plenty of extreme metal that, despite its unforgiving nature, still didn't parallel the onslaught brought upon me by Suicide Silence. Needless to say, the band made an impression. Because of that album, and despite the fact that it was more the shock factor that left be bedazzled than the quality of the album (which was a bit of a one-trick-pony after the absolutely, mindnumbingly brutal "Unanswered" kicked things off), "No Time To Bleed" has been one of the few albums in this genre that I've found myself eagerly looking forward to. Since its release it has been allowed an unreasonable amount of spins in my drive, partly because this kind of music isn't exactly easy listening, but most of all because what we have here may well be the best album this genre has ever spat out. I say this knowing that "Genesis" is widely considered to be that album.

Consider it dethroned. Mitch Lucker was not kidding when he said in an interview that the band is tired of fashionista would-be brutal kids recycling material that Suicide Silence invented, which was why this new album was going to feature musicianship and ideas that simply weren't going to be replicable. What this scribe has always found endearing about Suicide Silence is that they seem to genuinely believe in what they do. Not riding on the bandwagon, but setting benchmarks for other like bands who only dream about the kind of technical prowess this band is in possession of - this has always been their defining characteristic. Well, that and the vocals. Mitch Lucker is an absolute monster, to the extent that if ever there were vocals capable of producing nightmares, they would be his. Other things that his terrifying scream probably produces include serial killers, psychopaths, suicide cults and Anton Chigurh. Seriously, one can imagine these things simply coming out of Lucker's mouth together with lyrics which are, well, not exactly sunshine and kittens either.

Take "...And Then She Bled" for example. What this track is, is essentially some rather ominous music played against the recording of a real 911 call by a frantic woman whose friend is being torn to shreds by an enraged chimpanzee in front of her eyes. The inclusion of such an outrageous 'song' should suggest just how brutal the material on this album is. Fortunately in the instrumental department the dissonant breakdown-mania that so plagued the previous album has been replaced with a much more interesting soundscape that even ventures into thrash metal here and there and, yikes, there are neo-classically charged solos on offer too. Still the real treat now is the drumming which has been produced to colossal volume. Some of you may remember that infamous simple drum pattern that made "Unanswered" so frightening; that fear-factor has since been exponentially increased and there are brief injections of tribal drumming techniques in here, too (most notably in the opening track, "Wake Up").

Speaking of waking up, that track quite faithfully lives up to its name. Because once Mitch bellows into the microphone, "wake up, wake up", you will. As such "No Time To Bleed" is about as unrelenting and merciless as can be. There is no sympathy, and as foreseen by the band's previous album, no pity for the coward. Coward in this context is to be read as someone not yet deflowered by the genre, because if deathcore is unfamiliar territory for you, be warned. This album will not ease you into it, rather, it will pry you from your seat, clutch you by the neck with ten fists and scream in your face until you faint from the putrid stench. What about any negative aspects, I hear you ask. Apart from this being probably the most inaccessible record you will ever listen to, there really aren't any. Breakdowns are aplenty, but used only when needed and not as substitutes for a lack of creative drive. Despite its ugly skin, "No Time To Bleed" is still very much an instrumentally driven piece of music, even if Mitch often steals the show with his sickening pipes.

Remember how hated this genre usually is among our scribes? Well, this is the day we thought would never come. This is the day that your entrusted scribe recommends a deathcore album. Why this album works so well probably owes to the fact that Suicide Silence aren't trying to be a death metal band. The level of conviction here is unprecedented in the genre because every song speaks the same truth: this shit comes from the bottom of the band's heart and it isn't riddled with pretentious, exaggerated bullshit like so many of their contemporaries. So mark my words: this is a deathcore album that you absolutely must own. Disbelief.

8

Download: Wake Up, Smoke, Something Invisible, Disengage

For the fans of: Carnifex, Despised Icon, Job For A Cowboy, Oceano

Listen: Myspace

Release date 06.07.2009

Century Media / EMI

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