A SEMI-COHERENT OBSERVATION ABOUT SUICIDE SILENCE’S “YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE”

I don’t believe that Job for a Cowboy or Suicide Silence created deathcore, but they seem to be the two bands that everyone points to as the epitome of that genre, perhaps because they’re two of the most popular bands to emerge after the tag gained some steam (no one ever called The Red Chord “deathcore” when they started), or perhaps because they’re both so-called “MySpace bands” whose careers took off roughly around the same time. In any case, it’s been interesting to watch their paths diverge; there might have been some similarities between the two bands circa Doom and The Cleansing, but there sure as shit isn’t anymore. JFAC have gradually turned into a traditionalist death metal band (and a very fine one, I might add — their new EP, Gloom, features what is easily their best work to date) while Suicide Silence have pursued a musical direction more reminiscent of Slipknot.

Case in point: the band’s new song, “You Only Live Once.” Mitch Lucker’s vocals are still DM (unlike Corey Taylor, he’s not doing any clean singing… yet), but “Unanswered” this ain’t. In fact, the intro, the bridge, and and the section starting around the 2:22 mark could very well be from a Slipknot song.

I’m not saying any of this as an insult, by the way. I like Suicide Silence, and I like this song. I think this band serves as a gateway for a lot of fans, and I’m absolutely fine with that — I can see how kids might take the leap from this to Morbid Angel (but hopefully not the new Morbid Angel, ’cause that shit is terrible) much easier than I can see how kids might take the leap from, say, Hollywood Undead to anything that isn’t a life of stupidity and waste. I’m just observing that this band has a different set of aspirations from some of their peers.

And then I found twenty bucks.

“You Only Live Once” comes off of Suicide Silence’s new album, The Black Crown, which is out July 12 on Century Media.

-AR