ALBUM REVIEW: How To Survive A Funeral – Make Them Suffer

There’s something to be said for MAKE THEM SUFFER‘s endless pursuit of innovation within extreme metal. Even if you trek back to their 2012 debut Neverbloom – you’ll stumble across a band who added rich nuance to deathcore, a genre which, at the time, seemed to be focused more on who had the lowest tuned breakdown than more specific, deeper characteristics. Maybe not a lot has changed, areas of the deathcore fan base still obsess purely over who sounds the heaviest, and MAKE THEM SUFFER are still an entity unlike most.

The Aussies symphonic flirtations at times have sounded limiting, and sophomore record Old Souls though solid enough, did start to open up questions of exactly how much further the five piece could stretch their sound. Well, if 2017’s Worlds Apart was a sign that the quintet were close to striking their perfect balance: How To Survive A Funeral is the culmination record that satisfyingly ties every segment of the band together.

Almost cinematic in its delivery, the ebony and ivory vocal battle of front man Sean Harmanis and Booka Nile on keyboards is at times a spellbinding journey in itself. Sean‘s grim vocal cuts on the likes of Bones are almost dissolved by Nile‘s lines of grace and grandeur. MAKE THEM SUFFER have never invested themselves into the chorus concept quite like this, perhaps they’ve never had the right tools at their disposal before – regardless, their gravitational pull has never been larger.

These emotional power plays permeate the record, Erase Me, Soul Decay, and Drown With Me are all home to this juxtaposed effervescent brutality, and producer Drew Fulk has materfully woven MAKE THEM SUFFER‘s assets into a colossal, beating heart. It’s this unified prosperity that makes album wildcard The Attendant a bona fide show stealer. Harmanis‘ unnerving personification of a medical facility is uplifted by his and Nile‘s dual, personal exposition of toxicity. Sure, the idea of a stripped back MAKE THEM SUFFER rings alarm bells at first, but once coaxed into its sinister hook – you’ll find yourself fixated on the anguish.

Not all eggs are thrown into one basket though. The punishing one-two of Fake Your Own Death and the title track hark back to a more cut and dry version of the Australians. It gives How To Survive A Funeral a useful break from the pattern, and Nick McLernon‘s pinching guitar inflections manage to add a layer of personality to tracks which, without them, could have descended into by the book deathcore numbers.

How To Survive A Funeral does a succinct job at pleasing both sides of the battlefield. For pre-existing fans – witnessing the sonic growth of MAKE THEM SUFFER results in the record being one of the most rewarding listens of the year, whereas newcomers are set to get hooked in on a level of extreme metal dexterity they’re unlikely to find elsewhere. MAKE THEM SUFFER‘s journey has always been consistent, yet criminally underrated, this is the album that will finally, certainly, turn them into the major players they’ve been in essence since 2012.

Rating: 8/10

How To Survive A Funeral is set for release on June 19th via Rise Records.

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