Make Them Suffer - Worlds Apart album review

Perth sextet Make Them Suffer legitimised their symphonic deathcore tag with the release of 2010’s blistering Lord Of Woe EP and their full-length debut Neverbloom’s propensity for eloquent gloom. These Antipodeans’ penchant for blending nihilistic beauty with rapid-fire bludgeoning has remained a fundamental part of their sound, but dynamically, there’s an unmistakable shift at work here – aside from the obvious absence of keyboard/ vocalist Louisa Burton. Current single Fireworks may lack the lyrical depth or romanticism of songs past, but its tinkling keys and melodic heft are nonetheless compelling, while opener First Movement highlights those startling female vocals. Power Overwhelming and Save Yourself introduce change and progression with slower tempos, djent-tinged passages and the latter’s emphatic ‘call-to-arms’ spoken-word mantra. Granted, Worlds Apart is not the frostbitten maelstrom on which MTS established themselves, but any diehards blanching at this record’s euphoric eclecticism will certainly find solace among the intermittent flurries of blastbeats and enamel-peeling screams elsewhere. These guys are suffering for their art successfully.