Review
Arriving on Solid State nearly two decades after the peak of late-2000s metalcore, Miss May I enter an ecosystem where veteran peers either soften into arena rock or retreat entirely into nostalgia circuits. Rather than chase synth-drenched trends or ultra-compressed down-tuning, the Ohio quartet—navigating their first major lineup change with guitarist Elisha Mullins—anchor their eighth outing to the unadorned, muscular framework that originally forged them.
Nick Sampson's production preserves breathing room between the low-end thud and biting guitar leads, lending crisp articulation to Jerod Boyd’s rapid-fire double bass. Levi Benton’s hoarse roar propels "Sanctuary" before locking into familiar call-and-response dynamics with bassist Ryan Neff's soaring choruses across "Pray for Silence." When the record steps beyond standard formula—introducing clanking, industrialized rhythmic scrapes on "Hand Me a Halo" or thrash-picked sprints during "Die on the Vine"—the shifts hit with genuine force, even if closer "Highbrow Thieves" retreats to predictable breakdown architecture. It rarely rewires the style's fundamental machinery, but the execution remains sturdy and blunt.
