Suicide Silence vocalist Eddie Hermida has branded Thy Art Is Murder frontman CJ McMahon a “sellout.”
It’s the latest in an escalating war of words between the two camps, which began when Hermida suggested Thy Art Is Murder were stuck in a deathcore rut last month.
Thy Art Is Murder responded by releasing a spoof Donald Trump-style red baseball cap with the message “Make deathcore great again” and then McMahon posted a picture of a burning bridge on Instagram with the caption: “A picture can say a thousand words.”
And referring to McMahon’s return to Thy Art Is Murder earlier this year, Hermida tells Live Metal: “Thy Art is Murder absolutely saw an opportunity and ran with it, and honestly, they did the silliest thing you could ever do in mimicking somebody like Trump and say that they are not selling out.
“They are literally going, ‘Hey, we’re not sell-outs, but please buy this hat. You need to buy this hat.’ It’s completely backwards thinking. They’re looking for their fans to feed into the chaos. They’re looking for the attention, and that’s fine.
“We don’t need that kind of attention anymore. I praise them for jumping on an opportunity just like they should. When you’re desperate for making money, you’re going to serve the fans, you’re going to create the same music so that they can feel safe in their sound, and you’re going to try your hardest to maintain in that world.”
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Hermida insists he didn’t say anything hurtful towards Thy Art Is Murder in the first place and adds: “If anything, they’re hurting themselves by continuing that mentality and continuing that really tongue-in-cheek way of doing things.
“It’s not showing anybody any kind of strength. It’s not showing any kind of value. It’s just going, ‘Oh, I see this opportunity where my band’s name is in the media. Let’s sell some stuff.’”
Hermida then focuses specifically on McMahon, who initially quit Thy Art Is Murder in 2015 saying the main reason he was walking away was because of financial difficulties.
Hermida continues: “’You, know, nothing else is selling, so I quit the band to begin with. There’s no money in it, so let me write this long-ass fuckin’ expose about how band members don’t make any money, then later come right back and basically say I’m not a sellout.’
“At the end of the day, that is a sell-out. A person who is looking for money and a person who talks about money and focuses on money when they’re making music is a complete sell-out. I would say that straight to his face – and I would say that to any band member in this genre that isn’t challenging anybody.”
He adds: “Anybody that’s going out there for the sake of making money and for the sake of being in a huge band for selling albums are out of their minds. They’re completely backwards.”
Suicide Silence have come under fire from some sections of their fan base for altering their sound on their new self-titled fifth album.
The band are currently on the road and will return to the UK next week for a run of six shows.
Suicide Silence remaining 2017 tour dates
Mar 19: Southampton Engine Rooms, UK
Mar 20: Manchester Club Academy, UK
Mar 21: Glasgow Garage, UK
Mar 22: Birmingham O2 Academy 2, UK
Mar 23: Bristol Marble Factory, UK
Mar 24: London Koko, UK
May 19: Columbus Rock On The Range, OH
Jun 09: Paris Download Festival, France
Jul 14: Bridgeview Chicago Open Air, IL
