Suicide Silence Remember... You Must Die

I can’t imagine anyone currently reading this website is unaware of who Suicide Silence is. As one of the main bands that propelled deathcore into the mainstream spotlight in the mid and late 2000’s, they’ve since been through highs and lows that would have eradicated most bands, with the most damaging blow being the tragic death of their original vocalist Mitch Lucker in 2012. The band has since continued on with vocalist Hernan Hermida and their new record Remember…You Must Die—their fourth with Hermida— follows several releases that seemed to get a lukewarm reception upon release. With that being said, the album serves as both a return to the band’s straightforward deathcore roots, and as a rebirth in a way, and is far and wide the strongest effort from the band since the initial records that launched them into the public consciousness. This is thanks to the organic and blistering production of the record coupled with some of the strongest songwriting from the band to date.

There are certainly no punches being pulled by Suicide Silence on this new record—after a brief intro track they serve up nothing but straight-up ass-beaters for the duration of the just-below-40-minute runtime. There’s a certain charm to how straightforward everything is here, with no ventures into the kind of sonic experimentation that can just as quickly kill the momentum of a record of this style as it can add possible dynamics under the right circumstances. This is all just as well, as I’d reckon most longtime fans of the band will be pleased with the return to form and are here for the heaviest aspects of the band more than anything else.

Much of the intensity of the record can also be attributed to the production of the infamous Taylor Young of The Pit Recording Studios, well known for his production on standout hardcore records from Drain, God’s Hate and Nails to name just a few, and that’s not even mentioning his work as an artist in two of the aforementioned bands as well as Deadbody, Disgrace and Twitching Tongues. Young’s production on this record feels organic and hard-hitting, foregoing the overly slick nature of many modern deathcore records.

All that said, Suicide Silence certainly aren’t reinventing the wheel here and while the production does lend a certain amount of renewed energy and a feeling of freshness to the record, those who are firmly in the camp of deathcore hatred are unlikely to have their minds changed. From a songwriting standpoint, there are certainly mountains of solid riffage and crushing breakdowns to be found on Remember… You Must Die, but those who find themselves bored with the genre quickly are likely to feel fatigued by the record’s end. Meanwhile, longtime fans of the band that have felt underwhelmed by the band’s post-Mitch Lucker material will find plenty to be excited about here, and surely this is the strongest effort from the band since their initial releases that turned so many heads in the metal scene a decade plus ago.

Bottom Line: Suicide Silence may not be breaking new ground with their new record, but they do sound reborn and renewed here, and I’d imagine that’s going to be more than enough to please deathcore fans and their longtime listeners. With production from one of metallic hardcore’s greatest and the heaviest and most urgent material the band has released in years, Remember… You Must Die stands as a rare late-game entry from a band that has very little to prove in 2023, but sounds more determined than ever before to crush skulls.