Suicide Silence

Suicide Silence

Suicide Silence is a deathcore band from Riverside, United States, formed in 2002 and active to the present day. The group is known for combining death metal and metalcore, with additional influence from grindcore, hardcore and, at times, nu metal. Its membership has changed several times over the years, and the listed members include Tanner Womack, Rick Ash, Josh Goddard, Mike Bodkins, Mitch Lucker, Chris Garza, Mark Heylmun, Alex Lopez, Dan Kenny and Eddie Hermida.

Formation and early releases

The band begins as a side project made up of musicians from other groups. Its first release is the 2003 demo Death Awaits. A second demo follows in 2004, after a line-up change that brings in Josh Goddard on drums and Mike Olheiser on bass. Vocalist Tanner Womack leaves after the band’s first performance in April 2003, after which Mitch Lucker takes over all vocal duties. By this period the members are committing more time to the project.

In 2005 the band records its self-titled EP, first issued through Third Degree Records and later re-released in the UK by In at the Deep End Records. It books its own tours around the United States after the EP appears. The release features guitarist Rick Ash, who is later replaced by Mark Heylmun. In 2006 Josh Goddard leaves and Alex Lopez joins on drums. Around this time the band signs with Century Media Records and records pre-production material for its debut album.

Studio albums and label history

Suicide Silence’s debut full-length, The Cleansing, is completed in 2007 in Los Angeles with engineer John Travis and producer/mixer Tue Madsen, and includes artwork by Dave McKean. It reaches number 94 on the Billboard 200 and becomes one of Century Media’s best-selling debut albums. The band then tours widely, including appearances on Mayhem Festival, European dates with Parkway Drive and Bury Your Dead, Australian shows with Parkway Drive, A Day to Remember and The Acacia Strain, and a slot on Sweat Fest. It also records a cover of Deftones’ “Engine No. 9” for the Green Monster single and iTunes.

No Time to Bleed follows in 2009, produced by Machine and engineered by Will Putney. The band previews several songs live before release. The album reaches number 32 on the Billboard 200, and its opener “Wake Up” appears as a digital-only EP with a live version and a remix by Shawn Crahan of Slipknot. “Genocide” is released as a single and appears in a remix version on the Saw VI soundtrack. “Disengage” is also issued as a single and later receives a video. In 2009 the group receives Revolver Golden God awards for Best New Talent and Most Innovative Band.

The Black Crown is recorded in Big Bear, California with Steve Evetts and released in 2011. It debuts at number 28 on the Billboard 200 and sells over 14,400 copies in its first week in the United States. The band tours that year on Mayhem Festival with acts including Machine Head, Trivium and All Shall Perish. The record marks the start of some lyrical shift toward more personal subject matter.

Vocalist Mitch Lucker dies in November 2012 after a motorcycle accident. The band later stages the memorial show Ending Is the Beginning: The Mitch Lucker Memorial Show in Pomona, California and establishes the Kenadee Lucker Education Fund.

In 2013 the band brings in Hernan “Eddie” Hermida of All Shall Perish as vocalist. You Can’t Stop Me follows in 2014, taking its title from a song written by Lucker before his death. The album includes “Cease to Exist” as its first single. In 2015 the band issues the EP Sacred Words, which includes the title track from You Can’t Stop Me plus unreleased material and three live tracks from RockPart 2015.

The self-titled album Suicide Silence appears in 2017 via Nuclear Blast. Its first single, “Doris,” draws a strong reaction from fans and the album shifts away from the band’s earlier deathcore sound toward nu metal. In 2019 the band announces Become the Hunter, which comes out in 2020. The record includes the singles “Meltdown,” “Love Me to Death,” “Feel Alive” and “Two Steps.” In 2022 the band returns to Century Media, where it first releases its early albums. Drummer Alex Lopez departs, and Ernie Iniguez, who records drums on Become the Hunter, becomes the live replacement.

The band’s seventh studio album, Remember... You Must Die, is announced in 2022 and released in 2023. The group’s label is listed as Suicide Silence Songs.

Style and influences

Suicide Silence’s sound is rooted in deathcore, blending death metal and metalcore with grindcore pace, black metal vocal traits and mathcore-style changes in speed and time signature. The band has also been associated with hardcore, grindcore and metalcore. Later releases show a movement into nu metal before the group returns to its earlier deathcore style on Become the Hunter.

The band names influences including Meshuggah, Sepultura, Disgorge, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Napalm Death, Nile, Slipknot, Darkest Hour, Deftones, Korn, Death and Possessed. Mark Heylmun cites Dimebag Darrell and George Lynch as major influences, Chris Garza points to Wormed, Eternal Suffering and early Skinless, and Eddie Hermida names Mike Patton as a key inspiration.