Miss May I Streaming ENTIRE New Album “Rise Of The Lion”

For many years I have been comparing and contrasting record labels and bands that they sign.  The reaosn for this is to look at the marketing aspect of certain genres and what bands the labels sign to compete with rival labels.  Not that there is a rival and I am certainly not trying to start one.  I think it all stemmed from the disappointment I received when listening to "The Powerless Rise" from As I Lay Dying back in 2010.

While looking for something to fill the void of the pounding double kicks along with screams that can blend with melody, I came across Miss May I, which were on neighbouring label Rise Records.  Epitaph has The Ghost Inside/Parkway Drive, Artery has Bury Tomorrow, Spinefarm has Dreamshade, and Solid State have August Burns Red.  Now don't get your undies all twisted in a bunch.  We're not comparing popularity here, were simply comparing labels and bands that run in similar circles.

So back to Miss May I.  After hearing great things from friends and family for their release "Monument", I decided to give it a spin.  Singles such as "Masses of a Dying Breed" and "Relentless Chaos" hit me hard and fast.  They were great tunes and instantly connected with the music.  The live performance was equally matched when I caught them for the first time at the 2013 edition of Rockfest in Montebello, QB.  Crowd enthusiasm was on a high note (all puns intended) and really made a splash at the festival on one of the side stages (and fierce competition from other bands performing around the same time such as Acacia Strain and Sworn Enemy).

That being said, I was very excited to hear of their new album "Rise of the Lion" was streaming in full online before the release date.  Not that I needed a chance to hear the material before hand (I already knew it was going to be a solid album), but like most fans you just want that new material as soon as you can.

1. Refuse To Believe
2. Lunatik
3. Gone
4. Echoes
5. You Want Me
6. Tangled Tongues
7. Hero With No Name
8. Darker Days
9. End Of Me
10. Saints, Sinners and Greats

"Well, it’s a very fan based record. All the lyrics are letters back from letters we’ve gotten from fans and haven’t been able to write back. There’s some topics we haven’t faced, but things that have touched while reading letters in the past. We see many tattoos and crazy stuff with the lion and how much it means to fans." -Levi Benton

So below is a playlist (via YouTube) of the entire new album like I mentioned above.  Give it a listen and drop some comments/thoughts if you have any regarding the album as a whole or certain songs that caught your fancy.  "Rise of the Lion" was released on April 29th, 2014 via Rise Records.



"Basically the lion is a symbol for us and all of our fans, we just wanted to dedicate this to them. This is our follow-through record, and we think this is going to be a big one and a big fan-base growing album for us. This is the rise of the lion." -Levi Benton