Make Them Suffer “How To Survive A Funeral”
The ethereal opening belies the onslaught of the impending obliteration to your speakers by Perth’s Make Them Suffer cranking new album How To Survive A Funeral.
Whether it’s the rapid speed gear changes of Falling Ashes, that strikes like a overpowering battalion slaying listeners in its wake, or the ghostly melodic vocals on the ballad The Attendant, Make Them Suffer has matched the stakes from their Australian peers Polaris and Northlane and raised them higher.
Bringing in producer Drew Fulk, whose previous body of work includes Motionless In White and Bullet For My Valentine, has proved to be a master stoke. Merging the undeniable musical talent of the band with the nous of a surgeon, Fulk has cut the band into the diamond they always threatened to be.
The band themselves to their credit don’t stick to any particular genre either on this album. They stretch their range with a steroid induced groovy rhythm on ‘Bones’ while deathcore permeates throughout Drown With Me which your neighbour will hate as you turn the dial all the way up to 11.
The dual vocals of Sean Harmanis and Brooka Nila compliment each other well throughout each of the songs, noticeably on the two videos Erase Me and Soul Decay. The former swerves and dives with the precision of a jet fighter pilot in combat while the latter you can bank on as being the bands new anthem when finally unleashed on stage.
Fake Your Own Death is beautifully heavy in the pure and simplistic sense. It’s starts by grabbing your throat and doesn’t let go as your head is pounded with the force of a ten ton hammer. The title track itself, How To Survive A Funeral, meanwhile shakes up all the styles in the bands inventory into a bag then throws them in your face demanding a reaction. My reaction is one of thorough enjoyment.
Finishing with That’s Just Life is like going back to the scene of a crime to admire your handy work. That is what this album is, an declaration of a glass ceiling being smashed. It’s daring, it’s exciting, it’s joyously unpredictable and it’s bangs hard. This band is about to take its place at the top table of Australian heavy music. Make Them Suffer have survived the funeral and now they are about to be the life of the wake.
Album Review By Iain McCallum
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