“If bands make the music they’ve always made, it’s going to die.”
Suicide Silence frontman Eddie Hermida has given his take on the state of deathcore, and the backlash to his band's new material.
“If bands keep doing what we’re doing, it can still remain as a powerhouse,” he said in an interview with CLRVYNT.
“Fact is, the reason people don’t believe in deathcore is it sounds dumbed-down and cheesy, and not challenging to play. A lot of the death metal elitists make fun of it, and anyone who doesn’t listen to all screamed vocals isn’t going to listen to it. So, you’re kind of stuck playing to these fans who are either deathcore fans or death metal elitists. Or just metal elitists in general, the patch-wearing fucking weirdos.”
“You start playing to these crowds, and they’re never going to accept the virtuosity of dumbing down your music; they’re never going to understand it. If it’s not played at 230 bpm, people are gonna think it’s wack. That right there goes to show how simple-minded and afraid of change people in our scene are. If bands starts challenging themselves and pushing what they can do as musicians, and goes out there and write some really good tunes, I think deathcore has a future.”
“If bands succumb to what Thy Art Is Murder just did, like, “Oh yeah we’re gonna save deathcore,” and they write the same song they wrote on their last record, it’s going to die. That’s just it. If bands start to grow, deathcore will grow; if bands make the music they’ve always made, it’s going to die.”
Wow.
“Fans don’t really like the technical aspect; they love the breakdowns,” he also said.
“So, either they become more breakdown-y and continue doing whatever they do, or they branch out. We started seeing that trend, and really, Suicide Silence wanted to make a change before I even joined the band. When I recorded “You Can’t Stop Me,” that was the time for that record. When it was time to start writing this record, it was time. We all looked at each other [and said] this is the perfect opportunity to branch out and do something different. We looked at each other and all jumped off a cliff.”
“This scene full of incredibly talented musicians is killing itself. It’s unwilling to change, it’s unwilling to grow, it stays within the margins with safety — meaning it’s not going to spend more money to record records, it’s not going to challenge the way it records records, is found its way of doing it the same way every time.”
As for the people who don't like appreciate the band's new direction , and have gone as far as to start a petition asking them not to release their new album?
“I’ve just hidden behind the screams because I was afraid of losing fans, but that’s just something I’m not afraid of anymore. I don’t really give a fuck. I’ve been giving fans what they’ve wanted for 10 years, and I’ve realized fans don’t want you to give them what they think they want. Fans want you to be yourself. Now that I’m being myself, I’ve seen the reaction, and it’s fucking killer.”
“You look at it, and it’s like someone making fun of your bright pink hair. Like, I don’t have bright pink hair, but you can go ahead and think that I do, and have a good time calling me gay for it. I don’t really care. It’s not real, so it doesn’t really affect me. Like people saying I’m out of key, when I can literally play a piano to the notes I’m singing. [Laughs] It’s not real. I don’t take true offense to it. Fact is, it’s real to them, and I get a lot of joy from it.”
“I wrote a song and it creates a different reality for people. It brings their real feelings to the surface, and they start speaking about it on the internet, which, in a way, feels like a weird social experiment that’s going way better than I would’ve ever thought. I’m getting a cultured response by the scene. And the scene is the only people who are online — the scene-y kids who don’t buy music or go to shows, just sit at home and blabber off, kind of try to dictate how bands do by their opinions. It’s not real; it’s all fun on the internet. Just like all the hatred for Trump on the internet — it’s not doing anything and creating more buzz.”
“I’m urging the other people who are like, 'I don’t understand the hate; it’s good, all the people hating are idiots,' like that’s complaining about the complainers, which sounds even worse. I see it as fun. I see it as a big joke. The song in [and of] itself is not a joke. The song has a deep connotation for me, but it’s funny to see people make memes out of it and making fun out of it.”
That's that, then.
'Suicide Silence' is released February 24 via Nuclear Blast, and you can hear a new song, 'Silence', here.
The band are set to tour the UK next month, too.
MARCH
19 – SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
20 – MANCHESTER Club Academy
21 – GLASGOW Garage
22 – BIRMINGHAM Academy II
23 – BRISTOL Marble Factory
24 – LONDON Koko
Source: Rock Sound