{"id":72766,"date":"2018-11-15T19:45:11","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=72766"},"modified":"2018-11-15T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:46:09","slug":"review-memphis-may-fire-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-memphis-may-fire-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Memphis May Fire &#8211; Broken"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-72767 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"331\" height=\"331\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover.png 1006w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-465x465.png 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Memphis-May-Fire-cover-500x500.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><\/a>Memphis May Fire<\/strong> began life with their feet firmly in the metalcore camp, but with their sixth album, \u2018<em>Broken<\/em>\u2019 they\u2019re pulling strongly against those roots. Drop-tuned chugging is out, in its place they\u2019re playing a hard rock style over an electronic base. Don&#8217;t worry, this is still a heavy record and the djenty riffs on cuts like \u2018<em>Mark My Words<\/em>\u2019 are massive, but these songs are bolted together around layers of synths, so if you\u2019re wanting something authentic, this isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n<p>Never ones to shy away from big accessible choruses, <strong>Memphis May Fire<\/strong> seem to be shooting for mass appeal. By fully embracing this new direction, they\u2019ve escaped the toe-in-the-water \u2018metalcore with juddery bits\u2019 approach that plagued 2014\u2019s \u2018<em>Unconditional<\/em>\u2019 and created something more satisfying. It&#8217;s a credit that the songs feel powerful, even being so heavily augmented by studio production work.<\/p>\n<p>Lead single \u2018<em>The Old Me<\/em>\u2019 is powerful and harks back to the band\u2019s previous album \u2018<em>This Light I Hold\u2019<\/em>, but every other song tries something new, be it the crunchy guitar elements on \u2018<em>Fool<\/em>\u2019 or the electro-rock slow grooves and subtle little riff running through \u2018<em>Sell My Soul\u2019.<\/em> It\u2019s all pinned together by singer Matty Mullins. His lyrics are masked by anthemic presentation but can be summed up by the powerful statement <em>&#8220;It\u2019s okay to feel broken, I\u2019m broken too&#8221;<\/em>. Throughout his voice is allowed to shine, especially on \u2018<em>Heavy is the Weight<\/em>\u2019, despite the almost comical and misjudged guest rap spot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Memphis May Fire - The Old Me (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c2_6-lX8P9w?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Not everything they try is successful. \u2018<em>You and Me\u2019<\/em> is disappointingly forgettable. In contrast, \u2018<em>Live Another Day<\/em>\u2019 tries to grab your attention by throwing a bit of everything into the mix. Heavy riff-work goes back and forth between dubstep-like sections, yet, it\u2019s held together by powerful vocals so it isn\u2019t a total loss.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, <strong>Memphis May Fire<\/strong>&#8216;s stylistic expansion is well executed, resulting in a likeable record that should push the band to a wider audience, while tackling subjects like self-harm and anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Broken<\/em>\u2019 by\u00a0<strong>Memphis May Fire\u00a0<\/strong>is released on 16th November on <strong>Rise Records.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Memphis May Fire<\/strong> links:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/memphismayfire.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MemphisMayFire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MemphisMayFire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/memphismayfire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Never ones to shy away from big accessible choruses, Memphis May Fire seem to be shooting for mass appeal&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":72767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[5879,15621,1759,18],"class_list":["post-72766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-memphis-may-fire","tag-rise-records"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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