Make Them Suffer, Bury Tomorrow, Spite, Bloom @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 6/9/2024

Hindley Street Music Hall is the scene of carnage. Where a t-shirt has made a new home on the gigantic chandelier, the floor underneath damp with blood, sweat and beers. Make Them Suffer’s Suffer Forever Australian tour has arrived in Adelaide

Partaking in the glorious and vibrant electric show are Americans Spite, England’s Bury Tomorrow and Sydney’s Bloom who make a rare appearance in our town.

For whatever reasons Bloom don’t play here often which makes the sea of moshing heads for their set, a vindication of our city and a ‘if you play, we will play twice as hard’ statement. Boy, did Bloom play! Bound To Your Whispers grooves, An Exit is a naughty teaser of things to come and that slow crushing breakdown in Siren Song thunders, tearing a pit open that doesn’t close for the rest of the evening. Vocalist Jono Hawkey said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, hopefully tonight’s performance is the start of a beautiful friendship between band and city.

Spite was up next, and undoubtedly the heaviest band of the night. Like that coolest kid in a group of cool kids who stands alone, their set is monstrous. Last here with Thy Art Is Murder, the drums are Godzilla sounding, the riffs gargantuan and vocalist Darius a contouring demon of screaming. Tracks like IED, Caved In, and Free For All are rattled out with an intense ferocity that you can almost see the roof start to come off. The perfect image of the bands influence is one guy in the middle of the pit smashing his own head with a slippery when wet sign. Well played sir.

Bury Tomorrow took to the stage like The Avengers, only cooler. The six piece – back lit – looked cool. The looked in control of your fate, like they had just pulled the pin on a hand grenade and are deliberating when to it let it drop. When they did, it was mayhem.

With most of the set list from new album The Seventh Sun, this gave Tom Prendergast the ability to be his own vocalist while front man Dani Winter-Bates took command up front in the dual attack.
The melodies, the sonics and the dynamics gave me goosebumps as the pit, who had not stopped all night, grew more insane like a scene from Mad Max. Villain Arc and Boltcutter highlights in a set of highlights.

Make Them Suffer have been grinding their way constantly since silly reality TV stuff was finished and anyone who saw them with Bring Me The Horizon this year will attest, the key stepping stone has been how big their sound has become. While with BMTH, the stage was dark, tonight the giant screens firmly put the spotlight on the band and they fill that spotlight with ease.

Epitaph opened the set at 100mph and it never slowed. The energy remaining high throughout Bones, Ether and Oscillator. The dual vocals of new keyboardist Alex Reade and vocalist Sean Harmanis the strongest I’ve heard from the band in years. This confidence displayed by Harmanis translates with his command of the audience and his bandmates enchantment of their instruments.

The back screen threw lyrics up for the singers in Ghost In Me and the countdown clock during Doomswitch was a fantastic touch. Make Them Suffer are in the pocket right now that they even had a keytar and made it look cool.

The punters down front surfed, sat on friend’s shoulders and moshed the entire time. The electricity generated between crowd and band, palpable. I didn’t see what happen to the slippery when wet guy however judging by Make Them Suffers set he probably imploded with excitement.

Make Them Suffer have leaped forward, tonight a vindication of that. God only knows how good this new album will be and if the tour is a sign, I’m excited. You should be too.

Live Review By Iain McCallum