Vows for a Massacre

So this is Miss May I's first ever known release. The band members were all still in high school at the time of this release. They've likely heard all their favorite melodic death metal/metalcore/deathcore bands on MySpace (probably Black Dahlia Murder, As Blood Runs Black, As I Lay Dying, etc) and wished to write their own music in that style. Thus, this EP was born. It's definitely reminiscent of the time period of MySpace bands. Despite the fact that this melodic death metal/metalcore sound could've been considered a dead horse by this time, these guys still decided to make new and fresh music in this style. And it mostly turned out pretty good.

So basically this record is a bit more extreme than their later efforts. This album definitely resembles melodic death metal at times. Dare I say this is melodic deathcore? Anyways that's how this is; faster and more aggressive than their later works. It's also a lot more raw, which definitely helps with the more extreme sound.

The vocals are actually very good. They are high pitched screams more reminiscent of metal than typical metalcore/hardcore screams (the vocalist, Levi Benton, eventually uses those kind of vocals in their later albums). There are even clean vocals on "A Dance with Aera Cura" performed by the bassist (this song would eventually be reworked for their debut album). There are also growled vocals at times, usually as backing vocals to his main screams. These growled vocals definitely add power to his other vocals.

The songs themselves, which are mainly driven by the guitar riffs, are definitely good songs, especially due to the fact that this is their first release and the fact that they were all in high school still. The highlight of this album is "Lullaby for a Beast," which is definitely the best song Miss May I ever wrote. The song itself starts out in B minor, but then later in the song, probably around halfway, there's a chord progression that eventually transitions into C minor, and then a breakdown. The way they executed that works out surprisingly well. The other highlight is probably "A Dance with Aera Cura," which has nice riffs (some melodic tapping riffs and such), and the chorus, despite the vocalist sounding a bit like a kid, he sounds natural; no autotune here unlike other metalcore bands. The song has a lot of nice riffing and melodic leads overall too, making it an enjoyable listen. The other songs have good riffs, even tremolo picked riffs reminiscent of melodeath, but despite being good, they aren't as memorable. Particularly the last song, "Chambered Winds." That song appears to have the most breakdowns, and it's also the most dull. Still not a bad song, but definitely the weakest on this EP. It also has an outro that I find to be kind of unnecessary and out of place. It just doesn't seem to fit well. Despite some shortcomings though, the songs are very enjoyable.

The drums are very well done. The guy definitely isn't the best drummer ever, but he is certainly good. There's a part where he even does what sounds like a blast beat in the beginning of "Unfortunate Engagement." He plays fast and slows down when necessary, similar to other bands of this genre. What more can be said?

The bass is barely audible; no need to comment on that.

Overall, this is a nice little EP to listen to every now and then. I'd recommend this to metalcore fans and people who like The Black Dahlia Murder or similar melodeath/deathcore/metalcore bands.

Highlights:
Lullaby for a Beast
A Dance with Aera Cura