Make Them Suffer Unleash 'Contraband' featuring Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante

You've got to give it to Make Them Suffer. They've stepped it up and released the biggest album of their careers last year with How To Survive a Funeral and have not been able to play any of the tracks live yet. Hopefully that's all about to change ahead of their performances at Full Tilt festival across the country, albeit with a couple of rescheduled dates.

It's not all doom, gloom and neverbloom though. The almighty Perth metalcore band have just dropped an absolute zinger of a single called 'Contraband' — it could just be their biggest track yet, and it's their first ever song with a guest feature.

Earlier in the week, diehard fans got to hear vocalist Sean Harmanis and keyboardist/vocalist Booka Nile chat about 'Contraband' and what they've been up to lately surrounding Onslow, MAFS + Internet Friends respectively. They also spoke about collaborating with Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante, who was not only one of the last musicians Make Them Suffer toured with before COVID hit, but also hosted Booka on her podcast Good For A Girl — definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard it yet. Booka shared the hilarity of her opening line on MAFS “have you ever listened to like, metalcore?” before hearing the song make its worldwide premiere on Triple J.

So, let's take a look at 'Contraband'. The track commences with those signature Make Them Suffer soft key tones as highly recognisable riffs enter. Harmanis bellows straight into a guttural melodic verse which takes us straight back to the How To Survive a Funeral era. Booka picks up the chorus as Harmanis fades in the background throughout. The recipe is working with a cheeky little breakdown before LaPlante rolls in early on to take us through verse two. We were definitely wondering whether the band were going to utilise her heavy or clean vocal abilities, as Spiritbox have recently showcased both styles. This was the heavy kind, and it works so well with Harmanis' style — it's like a guttural duet. The keys re-enter for a brief interlude before the ultimate breakdown commences. Everything hits a crescendo and the song exits its rhythmic organisation into utter chaos, and fans are going to love it. Enjoy this number by Make Them Suffer, it could just be one of their best yet.

Words by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)

Stream Make Them Suffer feat. Courtney LaPlante new single 'Contraband' here.