Metal band Suicide Silence has announced a new member to perform in place of deceased vocalist Mitch Lucker. Hernan "Eddie" Hermida, former vocalist for fellow California deathcore band All Shall Perish, has reportedly already begun recording with the band.
Mitch and Eddie remained longtime friends and we felt that if the band were to continue, it should be with someone Mitch knew personally and respected as both a friend and an artist," the band said in a statement.
The announcement comes as the one-year anniversary of Lucker's death approaches. The vocalist was killed when his motorcycle skidded into a light pole in Huntington Beach, CA on November 1, 2012. Lucker's wife told the crowd at a memorial to the performer that he had been intoxicated during the accident.
From the critical perspective, Lucker was one of the most talented vocalists in metal prior to his death. His two vocal approaches, a frighteningly low death-metal growl coupled with a breathless black metal shriek, made him an ideal frontman in a sub-genre that coupled different vocal extremes with chaotic changes of pace and frequent blast beats.
Suicide Silence was in a tough position, trying to find a replacement, but Hermida is about as close as they're going to get. Although the former All Shall Perish vocalist doesn't terrify with his shrieks as well as Lucker, his death growls are where they need to be. Consider as well that Hermida is already well familiar with Silence's discography, and the band shouldn't be too far from a comeback.
The group released a minute-long segment of a re-recording of its 2011 single "You Only Live Once," featuring Hermida on vocals, and it sounds pretty on-point.
