West Australian metal outfit Make Them Suffer found themselves at an important crossroads just a short couple of years ago.
With the turmoil of COVID still echoing in the rear vision mirror, Make Them Suffer found themselves beset by more line-up changes, which, coupled with a high level of external expectations, cast an increasingly large, dark shadow over the possibility of a productive future.
Tracing its origins back to 2022, the new Make Them Suffer era was first set in motion by the announcement of Sean Harmanis (vocals), Nick McLernon (guitar), Jaya Jeffery (bass), and Jordan Mather (drums) releasing the blistering single Doomswitch as well as joining forces with Alex Reade taking up the role of backing vocalist and keyboardist, aka Make Them Suffer’s trademark Fifth Member.
Following on with singles Epitaph and Ghost Of Me, Make Them Suffer ultimately crafted their forthcoming self-titled new album in between an exceedingly busy international touring schedule as live music opportunities continued to rise in the post-pandemic landscape.
Harnessing that confusion and uncertainty, Make Them Suffer have fearlessly stepped into new creative terrain that embraces yet boldly expands upon the group's foundational symphonic, progressive, and blackened textures.
With the new album less than two weeks from being unleashed on the sonic landscape, HEAVY caught up with guitarist Nick McLernon to dig deeper.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't feel a thing," he replied solemnly when asked about the looming release date. "The last two years we've been through many ups and downs - a lot of downs. We've struggled through adversity, rather, many adversities to be here, so I think that's desensitised us - or at least me. I'm not sure if I'm speaking on behalf of the rest of the band, but I certainly feel desensitised to everything with the lead-up to the record coming out. I might feel different… I'm sure it's all going to catch up to me when the record actually does come out, but right now… this is the first time in two years I have actually gotten to relax and not think about music. We've been touring and writing since Doomswitch was released and since Alex joined the band. So this is the first time I actually don't have to think about music."
In the full interview, Nick discusses why now is the right time to name an album after the band, the sound of the album and what the band were going for musically, the singles released and how they represent the full album, Alex's addition for the album and what she brought to the creative process, self-producing the album and the pros and cons of keeping it in house, balancing genres successfully, future plans and more.
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