So This Is Suffering are creating deathcore with a purpose

Despite enjoying a new wave of popularity of late, deathcore remains one of the most scorned of metallic subgenres. Few bands seem eager to embrace the tag, but then few bands are as ruthlessly effective within the deathcore sphere as So This Is Suffering. As their new album, Palace Of The Pessimist, brutally demonstrates, this Los Angeles quartet are deathcore to the, erm, core…

“Deathcore is my life’s work!” declares bassist James Williams. “Deathcore has given me a purpose in this world. Everything in my life that makes me who I am, or brings me happiness, is because of this music. I live and breathe this music, and I have done since I was 13 years old. It was the first thing I really fell in love with, and I haven’t turned back. I feel that deathcore has come such a long way, and it gets better and better every year.”

Judging by the insane levels of heaviness that STIS unleash on the new album, James clearly has a point. Seldom has any deathcore band exhibited such a strong grasp of what makes the genre work or such a refined approach to writing songs with bona fide hooks to balance out the spine-splitting aggression. As the bassist explains, it’s all about commitment and hard work.

“So many members have come and gone over the years, but what made this work is destiny,” he says. “The current line-up now is full of very committed individuals who give their life for this music. We were destined to come together and form as one. We feel that if you don’t sacrifice yourself for this, it makes it impossible to stick around.”

With former scene standard- bearers like Suicide Silence straying purposefully from the deathcore path, So This Is Suffering sound like the right band to keep the guttural beatdown flag flying high. While many young bands seem to believe that the only way to achieve success is to tone down the rage and nurture pop sensibilities, James and his fellow skull-crushers simply head in the opposite direction. Ultimately, it’s all about being as heavy as possible and giving enough of a shit to make every last riff and growl count.

“The secret to this is love! We all love what we do, and love making this music, so when you feel the heaviness, you’re feeling all of us and our passion for what we do. Oh, and my Spector Bass, ha ha ha!”

Sounds Like: Uncompromising, state-of-the-art deathcore with gargantuan cojones

For fans of: Fit For An Autopsy, Whitechapel, Despised Icon

Listen to: Dreameater

Palace Of The Pessimist is out now via Unique Leader

The rise and rise of deathcore: that genre that refuses to die

Dom Lawson began his inauspicious career as a music journalist in 1999. He wrote for Kerrang! for seven years, before moving to Metal Hammer and Prog Magazine in 2007. His primary interests are heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee, snooker and despair. He is politically homeless and has an excellent beard.