With the news yesterday that Merriam-Webster added "shade" to the dictionary, we thought what a better day to use the term. It is defined as a verb, "to express contempt or disrespect for someone publicly especially by subtle or indirect insults or criticisms."
With that in mind, Suicide Silence frontman Eddie Hermida certainly threw some at Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder. With the feedback for Suicide Silence's new direction less than positive, Hermida was recently interviewed about the band taking chances, and in explaining himself, he sort of threw Thy Art Is Murder under the bus. Speaking to Clrvynt, Hermida said:
“If bands keep doing what we’re doing, it can still remain as a powerhouse. 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. [Laughs] 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.”
First off, I didn't realize deathcore needed saving. Has it gone anywhere? There are still endless amounts of bands out there jocking the sound. There is an argument to be made for both sides. Plenty of bands have done just fine never updating their sound (Motorhead, Slayer), and plenty have been able to evolve and become even bigger bands (Metallica are the shining example.)
Ultimately, I understand not being into the new Suicide Silence direction is one thing, but you have to realize this is what the band wanted to do and they want to explore this sound. If it works, this is what they're going to keep doing. If not, maybe the next album will be more to your liking.
