Having dropped on Friday, Make Them Suffer make their mark with their self-titled offering.
When it comes to Australian death metal, Make Them Suffer’s influence is so undeniable that you’d think the cover of their debut EP, Lord of Woe, was an initiation tattoo into some kind of death metal cult, with the hooded figure fronting the cover donning the calves of almost every bloke rocking mosh shorts at regional shows.
Although as is the case with most death metal bands, the debut demo that sounds like it was recorded on a Nokia E63 remains the fan favourite forever – if they stray too far from that, “they sold out”.
Make The Suffer – Self-titled
- Label: Greyscale Records/SharpTone Records
- Release: 8 Nov
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So naturally, the Perth-based group’s gradual shift into metalcore pissed off some longtime fans, but in doing so, it opened up a wealth of new doors, leading to the biggest commercial impact and most exciting output of their career, all without losing the brutality of their core sound.
Their fifth-effort, Make Them Suffer, captures this evolution, tying in old school symphonic metal elements (‘The Offering’) alongside newly adopted djent breakdowns and metalcore choruses (‘Doomsday’, ‘Venusian Blues’).
‘Weaponized’ delves into arena-metal territory, delivering chug riffs akin to Rammstein or Metallica alongside powerful intervals of silence and the contrasting gutturals of Sean Hermanis’ and high-pitched vocal frys of Alex Reade. Meanwhile, ‘Mana God’ delves into the groups experimental side, tying in 80’s goa trance synths alongside swinging drum patterns and bludgeoning breakdowns.
Honestly, let the purists judge all they want; Make Them Suffer just keeps getting better and better with every release.
Give Make Them Suffer’s self-titled a list here now.
