Back in their hometown for night of pure heaviness at The Rosemount Hotel, Make Them Suffer have returned for the final show of their Worlds Apart Australian Tour in recognition of their latest LP Worlds Apart – a new style for what was the symphonic deathcore band, and now embrace an ethereal heavy metal blend, laced with otherworldly atmospheres. Make Them Suffer was backed up by Florida metalcore behemoths: Wage War, djent-infused deathcore 5-piece: Daybreak, and industrial metal band: Sparrow.
First up was industrial metal 5-piece from Perth: Sparrow. Formally named: I, Said The Sparrow, commenced their set with “Sweet Tooth” from their 2013 album Deathpop. Immediately noticeable was the band’s influences; a distinct Nine Inch Nails and early Marilyn Manson sound, which was further evidence by their creative use of electronic samples. The band even played a track titled “Digital People”, which appeared to be a creative homage to Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People”. In addition to the band’s influenced style, they performed a cover of “Wish” by Nine Inch Nails, which complemented the band’s set perfectly. Sparrow ended their set on “World Wide Divide”, the latest release from their upcoming EP. This is where the band’s industrial style really shined; it was darker, grittier, and embodied the industrial metal aura, but spun with the band’s own creative essence. Overall, a solid warmup set for the night.
Pulling the night into the foreseen heaviness that was to come, Daybreak took the stage. Armed with their 8-string guitars, double-kicks and samples filled with bass-drops, this is where the night truly kicked into action. The Perth 5-piece began with “Lost Sentience”, the opening track to their latest EP “Death Dreams”. There is no shortage of earsplitting heaviness with these guys. A mosh pit sparked up almost immediately and lasted until the very last second of the night. The mixing on the Daybreak’s first song was slightly less full compared to their other shows, as the guitars were a little too quiet. However, that brutal breakdown of Lost Sentience hit with sheer destruction and sounded great with Brodie Wilson’s eerie atmospheres tied with Blake Pearce’s pounding guitar chugs. The mixing improved as Daybreak progressed through more tracks like “Loose Ends” and the crowd-pleaser: “The Possessor”, where front man Shaun Cox absolutely tore the stage to shreds. His stage presence was phenomenal and embodies the ‘possessed’ persona to a frightening degree, making for an absolutely menacing performance. The band then kicked into the title-track “Death Dreams,” and about halfway through, the song came to a jarring stop… the power cut out. To the disappointment of both the band and the audience, there was 20 minutes of darkness while Daybreak sadly had to finish their set early. As unfortunate as it was, these guys still put on an unquestionably hectic set.
After Daybreak’s drummer Sam Warren amusingly inspired a circle pit with an acoustic drum solo breakdown – the power finally returned. The anticipation loomed for Wage War as they began setting up for their set.
Wage War, all the way from Florida, blasted into the fury of “Stitch” from their very recent album Deadweight. The absolute gargantuan sound that this metalcore 5-piece produced was incredible live. The mixing was fantastic, everything sounded well-balanced and full. Wage War played their repertoire from across their discography, including tracks like “Alive” and “Youngblood” from their 2015 LP Blueprints. Front man Briton Bond’s vocals were brutal, his lows sounded destructive and his highs were rapturous. Briton’s remarkable energy never strayed from 100%, and maintained an incredible stage presence throughout their set. The clean vocals from guitarist Cody Quistad were also great highlights, and sung to near-perfection. Matched with gargantuan guitar tones, ruthless basslines, and superb-tight drumming, Wage War’s live set was violently heavy. Scattered with devastating breakdown after breakdown – inspiring endless hysterical mosh pits, crowd-surfing and the occasional crowd-member to somehow hang off the venue’s ceiling railing. It was monumental fury. Their set concluded with “Twenty-one”, truly finishing with a bang. The Wage War live show experience is certainly one to remember.
Finally, it was time for Make Them Suffer. The ominous piano intro commenced alongside eerie samples to one of the band’s most popular tracks: “Widower” from their 2012 album Neverbloom. This was a good indication for the audience that their set was going to include some real bangers from their heavier, earlier years. The audience exploded into insane mosh pits, head-banging, crowd-surfing and of course the occasional crowd-member hanging from the ceiling. The band then transitioned into their new repertoire with “The First Movement” and “Uncharted” from their latest album Worlds Apart, which sounded incredible live. The ethereal atmospheres created by keyboardist and clean vocalist: Booka Nile, mixed sensationally with the heavy instrumentation and piercing unclean vocals from Sean Harmanis. It was also great to hear the more heavier death-metal tracks such as “Weeping Wastelands” which was a brutal change of pace. Make Them Suffer also included songs from their 2015 LP Old Souls, such as “Fake” and the popular “Let Me In”, all performed with incredible precision and technical proficiency. Remarkably, Sean maintained powerful vocals through his entire set without compromising any energy. His stage presence and interaction with the crowd also made for an outstanding live performance – giving mic grabs to audience members often and working everyone up. At the end of the set, they performed their popular 2016 single: “Ether”, and left the stage to an onslaught of audience members shouting; “one more song” as expected. Astonishingly, the band returned onstage. The lights darkened to a deep red as the intro to “Blood Moon” ominously resonated through the venue and tore into a euphoric encore. During the song’s interval build-up, Sean split the audience into a wall of death. The night concluded with a colossal breakdown, and ruthless mosh pit. Make Them Suffer put on a brilliant show for their hometown, the final show for their Australian tour.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Jessica Vaini at JV Photo Film
