Make Them Suffer released a self-titled album in November, but it turns out the metalcore band came close to not reaching their fifth record.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Make Them Suffer’s frontman Sean Harmanis revealed that the band had discussed quitting prior to the release of their single “Doomswitch” in 2022. In the end, it was their fans’ continuing love that prompted them to keep going.
“When we saw that people were still excited about the band, and people were still listening from way back in 2010, 2012, it was like, ‘Alright, this is it.’ We have to strike while the iron is hot and just give it our all,” Harmanis told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“We’ve honed our craft over the course of 15 years and our songwriting has really improved. We’re now in a really happy space; everyone’s really stoked on it. This has amalgamated itself in the songs on this album,” he reflected.
Elsewhere in the interview, Harmanis explained the reasoning behind making their new album self-titled.
“If someone is checking out a band for the first time, they might check out the self-titled one first. For us, this is a great gateway album to Make Them Suffer; these songs are the coolest for a first time listener of the band. They will understand what we’re all about,” he said.
Make Them Suffer – the album – dropped on November 8th. Their follow-up to 2020’s How to Survive a Funeral made it to the top 40 on the ARIA Charts, reaching No. 38.
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The album featured a new band lineup, with Alex Reade, formerly of Drown This City, on keyboards and backup vocals, replacing Booka Nile who departed in 2022.
Self-produced alongside returning collaborator Jeff Dunne (Disturbed, Ice Nine Kills, Fit for a King) on engineering, mixing and mastering duties, the album that would become Make Them Suffer sprouted from arrangements conjured at home, with the group eventually flying to Portland, USA to record on site with Dunne in a short window between tours.
Make Them Suffer’s self-titled fifth album is out now.
