Single Slam – Doris by Suicide Silence (Suicide Silence)

The first single review of the year comes from Suicide Silence. With their new album, self titled, due out on the 24th of February through Nuclear Blast, the single, Doris, is finally available for us all to listen to having originally been debuted live back in October. It marks a bit of a change for the band, especially vocally, as it features quite a bit of clean singing though it isn’t the typical whiny nonsense you may expect. The band is fronted by singer Herman “Eddie” Hermida (ex All Shall Perish) after the tragic death of former vocalist Mitch Lucker in late 2012 and also features Chris Garza on rhythm guitar, Mark Heylmun on lead guitar , Dan Kenny on the bass and Alex Lopez on the drums.

The band have also stated that the new album, not just this song, will feature lots of clean vocals, up to 70% of it actually, which may be risky. If you have built up a fan base off of the back of your deathcore style and vocals, a switch can alienate fans but on the other hand, it can also open you up to new fans. That is how it seems to be working for me – I liked some of their older stuff but wouldn’t have classed myself as a massive fan but I do really like this song. Be warned though, you long serving fans, it is very different. So different it could have, maybe should have, been a new band?

The track itself is 4 minutes and 16 seconds long and starts off with some feedback and guitar squeals before a shout of “Fuck Yeah” sets the song off proper. It is quite quirky at the beginning with an off beat rhythm of drums and guitar squeals. When it kicks into the verse proper, the vocals are heavy and screamed over a very low toned, bassy riff. This leads into the first cleanly sung section but fear not, it is more Chino Moreno or old school Jonathon Davis then anything. It feels edgy and raw, not pretty and melodic. It is really catchy and there are some great guitar lines backing up the singing in the background. Back to the angst and low toned riff for the second verse which leads back into the very catchy chorus. This chorus leads into an instrumental section of sorts, with little drum fills and a bass line followed by a crunching riff and screaming. It is odd, but in a good way. It fades into an eerie effect with Hermida’s softest, almost whispered vocals for a second before the song explodes back into life with aggression, brilliant drumming and a neat guitar lead. With 50 seconds left, the song seems to be ending with music fading out and echoing, but fading, yells before, with it explodes into the fastest and heaviest section of the song with thundering drums, a crunching riff and death metal screams over the top before it closes for real.

Bang – that is different. Really different but I liked it a lot. It kind of reminds me of Deftones. No, it really reminds me of Deftones actually though it is much heavier in those heavy moments. The quirky, raw but creative edge the song has it quite captivating and I look forward to hearing what the new album has going for it.

There is no point in denying it, there are going to be a lot of old school Suicide Silence fans who are probably going to struggle to get the change, and probably for fair reasons, but I urge you to give it a chance. I wasn’t sure after the first listen but a few listens in and I am hooked on it. Deftones with death metal verses describes it quite accurately I think. If you have never been a fan, you should also check it out. Have I mentioned that it really is quite different?

It is available now on all the normal streaming sites such as Apple Music and Spotify.

Check the song out for yourself on YouTube and check out the band’s website for more information on them, the new album and anything else you can think of. Give them a like or follow on Facebook and Twitter too.

If you like what you hear, why not pre order the new album from Nuclear Blast?