When I came across Ohio’s Miss May I re-issue release for their Monument CD; Monument Deluxe Edition, I had heard the name tossed around here or there but had never committed to checking them out. According to many consumers at Amazon that may have been a good thing. So I listened to the album to see for myself and found they might have been right. 

First off I love this bands sound. I’ve loved it since Fear Factory did it way back when, and Miss May I does it well, mixing new sounds with old and creating something fresh. Vocals are both ferocious and melodic, and the production of this album is top notch. Everything sounds so acute and hard hitting without members of the band stepping over each others instruments. The use of both blaring fast hardcore and slow heavy hitting hardcore really got my blood pumping. I really enjoyed it.

There are some that complain that the album is too repetitive or that if you hold it up against the bands last album and play them back to back it will sound like one very long album. Well, like I said, I’ve never heard Miss May I before so I have no frame of reference. I’m like a child that wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know (sorry I had to). No, but seriously, when I listen to metal like this I want it to be like a gun. Put your head phones to your ears, turn up the volume, and have your head blown off. That’s exactly what I got and the construction of the album having all these facets, even if some we’ve heard before, that offer up enough change up that your not going to be bored with the album unless this is the only type of music you listen to all day. So basically, if your new to Miss May I chances are your going to love the album. Weather or not previous fans are going to find the sound stale is still up in the air. I’ve heard it both ways. In any case this is a re-issue and it does contain 3 brand new studio songs, 1 B-side, and a DVD so if your discovering them this would probably be the most bang for your buck and in my opinion money well spent. As always, final judgment is yours. Enjoy (or don’t).