Review By Aiden Stingemore

Piano addled deathcore has been a fairly stale offshoot of the contemporary metal tree. Whilst it proclaims texture and interest, it seems to be simply cashing in the gravy train that is funded by flailing teenagers and their love of the almighty breakdown – no matter how soporific and frustratingly samey the compositions become. Perth’s symphonic deathcore outfit, MAKE THEM SUFFER, hones said ethic with their groovy underpinnings showcasing a largely interesting and promising release of ‘Lord of Woe’ putting them in good stead for relative success amongst both elitists and the hard core kids.

With strings tuned down to the latter consonants of the alphabet, guitarist Cody churns out sluggish riffs with regular deviations into the realm of head-boppingly groovy – providing a nice reprieve from the standard onslaught of tremolo picked sections. Spacey layers of keys and haunting breaks from resident eye-candy Heather, provides a nice backdrop over the trudging rhythm, accented by the faucal gurgles and mid-range yelps of vocalist Sean – who delves into the fairly standard lyrical cache of nihilism and suffering, but handles his front-man duties with style.

However, ‘Lord of Woe’ falls down in the same category as it succeeds in as paradoxical as this seems. Each of the tracks are only slightly differentiated. So while consistency is all well and good, this becomes resigned to a somewhat homogenous sound after repeated listens. Thankfully, a casual listen of this 5 track album yields a fun, if somewhat recycled result.

Opener ‘Summoning Storms’ greets us with an unsettling line from the keys and vocals I can only liken to Cookie Monster with a gunshot wound, before splitting into an infectious series of bends and open string chugs. The band doesn’t stray too far from the formula akin to that of ‘Summoning Storms’, but this effort speaks to them trying to entwine each track with licks of individuality through experimenting with different song tones, compared to say the tiresomely slow ideas of some musical peers. The title track is of particular note here, beginning with a sludgy procession of open strings and barred frets before transitioning into a grandiose fire fight of intense double kick and atmospheric runs.

The remaining tracks stylistically bleed into one another, but it’s an enjoyable midpoint to conclusion, what with its serrated shrieks that I would liken to the bellicosity of Beneath the Sky’s Joey Nelson (Affliction of The Dead), an intense lower end and the octopus-like dexterity of drummer Tim whose nimble fills, furious kick pedal work and disorienting blast beats comprise the very backbone of this maturing outfit (Weeping Wastelands).

In short, it’s heavy as a very heavy thing, guaranteed to impel fringes in those pesky pits yet largely content those who lean back against the bar, cab sav in hand and judge. For the most part it’s pretty good, though one can only hope that they acquire a few more interesting elements to help diversify them amongst a sea of mediocrity.