The second single from the newest lineup of Make Them Suffer is here, and I am really gushing over this one. Ever since Doomswitch released, it became clear that Make Them Suffer were on track to becoming better than they've ever been before, and I've been hoping for an album announcement since. Sadly, there isn't one yet, but this single will tide me by for the time being.
Ghost Of Me offers a very different selection of flavours than Doomswitch, although they still have a bit of overlap. There's less of Nick's super technical riffs, but we see a very strong Neverbloom influence on the first verse, there's no traditional metalcore breakdown, but we get a sing-scream chorus and a great bridge instead. We still get the call-and-response type scream sections between Sean and Alex, Alex's cleans on the bridge and final chorus, and a healthy dose of electronic infusion into the reliably heavy and hard-hitting sound of Make Them Suffer. I can see this track appealing more to some and less to others, but as far as I'm concerned, I love it.
I think they did a great job in balancing out the dynamics in this track, especially since they opted for no breakdown here. I super love the Neverbloom-esque section in the first verse, and it's great to know that Sean's vocals are still as robust as ever and also that they are more than comfortable bringing back such heaviness into their current releases. The sing-scream chorus is such a surprising choice because they rarely go for it, and Alex is barely there either, it's mostly Sean. I love how he sounds in this vocal tone, and I really hope they use it more in the future.
I'll admit, the guitarist in me is a tiny bit sad that there's no fancy riffing from Nick, but it honestly doesn't take away much from the song. I think the wider range of vocal textures and surprisingly emotional aspect of this song deserves to stand on its own. I'm also a bit sad that Alex solo'ed the final chorus, I was really expecting an dual vocal overlapping kind of thing so it felt really empty-sounding at first to not hear Sean screaming at the back. I did get used to it though, and it doesn't sound bad, it's just a small nitpick on expectations.
It's a really exciting prospect, all things considered, the kind of musical direction they are heading towards, and as much as I hope they don't lose the parts of their sound that make them special, I am looking forward to how they evolve with Alex on board and with the new direction they're already heading towards. With their new signing with SharpTone Records, the label that's behind some of my current favourite bands, I can only be excited for what great music might lay ahead.
Rating: 4/5