Miss May I-At Heart

Rise Records
2012


I'm showing up fashionably late to the Miss May I party. This Troy, Ohio act may have been around since 2006, but in all honesty it was only a few months back that I first heard this band. Time has erased the actual song I heard from my memory, but the name stuck so I searched out this album. As I have been listening to my fair share of hardcore, metal and thus the combo package (crossover which is now metalcore you could say) I was anxious to hear this as the sound certainly does seem to have evolved from the same common gene pool. Before I go to far into this though I must say that after hearing this album I went back and listened to the group's 2010 album, "Monument", and my overall impression was that of a group that has gone slightly down the path instead of taking a logical step forward. Is it a bad album then? Well, given that it pumps out the same familiar metalcore/thrash that has been making the scene for the past 10+ years. Of the 13 tracks not one really stands out above the rest. Listening to one song by this group made me take notice, but as the album unfolded I tried to grasp hold of something original and was left sorely disappointed. "At Heart" sounds like a band trying too hard to stand above the crowd so instead they get trampled by it. Clean vocals, harsh vocals, breakdowns, etc etc etc...When it's hitting all the right dance moves it's beyond epic, but when it strolls along whistling a all too familiar tune...well, you get a band like Miss May I. Hopefully these guys get back on track and evolve some as this field is way too crowded already.