Search - Suicide Silence :: Cleansing (Bonus CD)

Amalgamation Of All Things Heavy

Patrick F. | St. Louis, MO | 06/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Suicide Silence, a extreme metal band from Riverside, CA, is a very polarizing band. Metal fans either love them, and will defend them to the death, or hate them and think they are trendy and not "true" metal. Personally, I ignore music genres and just listen to see if I like the music. I heard this band and immediately wanted to check them out some more, so I purchased their debut album "The Cleansing."



I heard first single "Unanswered" and immediately loved Mitch's vocals. His low, guttural vocals are great and his shrieking highs are very good, and I love the way he trades off and on. I know, I know, these type of vocals have been down before but I love how Mitch delivers them and how they sound, bottom line.



1. Revelations (Intro) N/A

2. Unanswered (2:16) 10/10

3. Hands Of A Killer (4:14) 9/10

4. The Price Of Beauty (2:46) 10/10

5. The Fallen (4:07) 10/10

6. No Pity For A Coward (3:12) 9/10

7. The Disease (4:23) 10/10

8. Bludgeoned To Death (2:34) 10/10

9. Girl Of Glass (2:53) 10/10

10. In A Photograph (4:32) 8.5/10

11. Eyes Sewn Shut (2:59) 10/10

12. Green Monster (3:38) 9/10



Overall: 12 tracks @ 40:12 9/10



"The Cleansing" has solid songs that build tension and then release that tension at the perfect times. Many people don't like the fact that they rely on breakdowns but if you listen you will hear that every song has it's own type of breakdown and none of them are generic. "Girl Of Glass" features a breakdown that is highly addicting and is really just a big riff. "The Price Of Beauty" has a Suffocation type breakdown that is anvil heavy.

And songs like "Eyes Sewn Shut" and "Bludgeoned" have those sludgy, and slow, half time breakdowns that are, again...just heavy.



These dudes play extremely heavy music. They were inspired by KoRn, Slipknot and extreme metal bands like Morbid Angel and Suffocation. When a Suicide Silence song comes on, you know it's them, and that is extremely hard to do anymore.



Lyrically "The Cleansing" takes aim at the belief in a God ("Unanswered", "The Fallen", "In A Photograph" and "Eyes Sewn Shut"), it also critiques capitalism, modern society, the human race, and self-pity.



Overall "The Cleansing" is one of my favorite heavy CD's. It's not the most varied album and it's not prog, experimental, or super technical but if you want a heavy, heavy CD with extreme vocals and mosh inducing breakdowns, then this band is for you.

I don't care if you wanna call them deathcore, new nu-metal, death metal, or whatever, I just don't care and I just know that I love this album.



For fans of: old KoRn, Slipknot, Whitechapel, breakdowns, modern death metal."

Sonic brutality at its finest

musicologist | FL, US | 08/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have read other reviewers of Suicide Silence's music and I understand their less than favorable critiques but I believe you must accept suicide silence for what they are which is some of the heaviest metal I have heard. I am a full metal head, yet like some other metal heads, I also appreciate other more melodic music. I mean, I played violin and piano for many years and still listen to classical music as well as many other types of music. Music is a large part of my being. I preface my review of this album with my background because I would like people to know I am not just some mongoloid who has no understanding of music. I really like suicide silence because they are extreme. I am an extremist and when I listen to metal, I like extreme. For others who would like the same, I highly recommend suicide silence. The vocals are awesome. Their vocalist may be one of my favorite metal vocalists. The composition is great and the drum work is very good as well. You must listen to suicide silence and judge it by a different standard. Metal, with all its nuances and variations, is something that cannot be compared to or critiqued by standards that you may judge other types of music. Yes this album is chaotic and some songs sound similar but that is exactly why I like it. When I want to hear some extreme metal, suicide silence provides me with my fix in the best possible way. This group is not for the faint of heart and newcomers to metal may want to start off slow and work their way up to suicide silence which may be a bit of an acquired taste. Start off with lamb of god or children of bodom. Its like drugs, you dont start with heroin, you smoke some pot, then maybe some coke then you're mainlining heroin. Bands like suicide silence, white chapel, and job for a cowboy are the new wave of extreme metal and I cant wait for others to follow suit and provide this level of brutality with maintaining some level of perceivable composition. If you find the metal you have been listening to not satisfying anymore then definitely pick up this album and prepare for unbridled audio ferocity."