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ALBUM REVIEW: "Worlds Apart" by Make Them Suffer

   Worlds Apart is Make Them Suffer's third full-length album, and it is about as far from their previous album Old Souls as that album was from their frostbitten debut, Neverbloom. It's this kind of progression and evolution as a band that keeps me intently waiting on what's coming next, and Make Them Suffer have managed to create an album that is true to their core but also a brave step into something new and fresh. The most obvious change to me was a slight deviation away from their deathcore sound into a more metalcore-orientated sound. Don't let that put you off though, because this album puts them in the company of bands like August Burns Red and Silent Planet who are writing music that expands and reworks on a mostly stale genre in exciting and sometimes spectacular fashion. There are still nods to their earlier sounds, though, in particular on the track "Vortex", and this transition doesn't feel jarring or alienating at all, but rather a natural and organic step forwards.
   Lyrically Worlds Apart is a departure for the band, being the first release not to be focused on the "Lord of Woe" storyline that started on the Lord of Woe EP and has carried through until this point. This makes sense, and is in step with the change in sound we got a taste of on the stand-alone single "Ether". There are still little easter eggs and references for the eagle eyed listener, but for the most part there is a completely fresh lyrical landscape to navigate on this new album. The complex and layered lyricism that the band have come to be known for are here again, ripe to be pulled apart and explored. The use of morse code in "Vortex" is a particularly creative technique, the riff and Sean Harmanis' wordless screams spelling ISHIE (Interdimensional Spiral Hindering Inexplicable Euphoria). 
   The dynamic between huge riffage underneath Harmanis' powerful screams and the keyboard/female vocal combination has always been one of my favourite things about Make Them Suffer, and pleasingly this has a bigger role on Worlds Apart than previous releases. This might disappoint some listeners who were die hard fans of Neverbloom, but for me it makes the band and this album in particular a much more varied and interesting experience. "Ether" was a fantastic introduction into this new phase for the band, and right from the first two tracks - the fantastic opener "The First Movement" and "Uncharted" - this new direction is immediately apparent. There's more focus on melody and atmosphere, which makes the bone-crushingly heavy stuff so much more impactful. And I should say, too, that this album is still heavy. Not only that, but there are musical motifs that recur throughout the album, pulling it all together into a single package brilliantly. The spoken word passage at the end of the final track "Save Yourself" was an interesting addition, and was one of quite a few growing comparisons that could be made with August Burns Red. Also, I loved the dial-up internet tones during the interlud-y bit of "Power Overwhelming", it was a huge shot of nostalgia and an interesting piece in the puzzle of the story that I am still piecing together.
   Worlds Apart is a fantastic album, packing soaring melodies, brutal screaming, spine-tinglingly beautiful atmospheric passages and bone crushing riffs into a concise 40 minutes. Were you to consider it purely as a metalcore album, it would be one of the best metalcore albums in years; but Worlds Apart is more than just that, and exceeds all the constraints of "heavy music" that contain so many bands within mediocrity. Easily one of the best heavy albums of the year so far.

   Favourite Songs: The First Movement, Grinding Teeth, Fireworks, Dead Plains and Save Yourself

   Least Favourite Song: I guess Midnight Run, but even that song kicks serious arse. 

   Rating: A


   What did you think of Worlds Apart? Did you love it? Did you think it was just noise? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear your opinion. Follow me on Cymbal at jonty98 and Spotify to stay updated with the new tracks and albums I'm digging. 
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