Review: “Rise To Remain” by May The Tempest

As a band May The Tempest are a quintet who have taken the better part of six years to reach their milestone debut album with a DIY work ethic which has earned them a few lucky breaks along the way. Hailing form Munich, Germany Lucci (Shouts), Jonas  (Guitars &Clean Vocals), Andi (Guitars), Patrick (Drums) and Roley (Bass) toured extensively following the release of their 2015 debut EP “Siren“, sharing stages with US Metalcore titans Miss May I in the Baltic region during the summer of 2018 as well as joining Annisokay at Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Keeping everything in house, their bassist produced the album at McGallagher Recordings, a concept release that tells of the moral abyss of a relationship, its end, and its aftermath; An emotional chaos reflected not only lyrically but also musically.

Between the release of “Siren” and “Rise To Remain“, May The Tempest dropped a string of singles with “Bitter Taste” (Summer 2016) cut adrift as standalone before last year a trio from this album served as a preview to what it might sound like with “Different” (February 2020), “Ghost” (March 2020), and “Nowhere” (August 2020) laying the foundations. The album starts with the melancholic overtones of achingly beautiful synths that underpin Lucci’s raw and emotional unclean vocals before building in orchestration that suggests influences in bands like Progressive Metalcore titans Architects before the test of the band come in for the final 30 seconds. “Infinite” is then the conjoined twin, introduced by the opening cut and wastes no time in divining into the classic Metalcore guitar work with some solid breakdowns and sing-a-long chorus. It has an instant hook, the air of familiarity of the genre while the band put their own spin on it with some technical elements in the turn around of the riff and skillfully avoid the slow down for the chorus that ruins lesser bands material. Building on that technical aspect “Different” has main riff that borders on DJent during the verse and has so many breakdown moments it commands the attention of the mosh pit before a finale which has “You Are We” era While She Sleeps written all over it’s sleeve. 

The difference is the unclean vocals which give May The Tempest much more bite, the lows bordering on what you might hear from a Death Metal or Deathcore band in places, while the cleans give everything a polished finish. “Gravity” then takes hold as a far heavier and darker song during the verse while returning to the chorus makes good use of vocal layering techniques. A stand out cut has to be “Vacant“, a brutal Technical Metalcore opening with “bleigh!” moments and a Melodic Death Metal chorus rich in synths with guitars that jar and judder in perfect staccato time that brings plenty of bounce before the chorus break giving you the opportunity to hit the pit and sing-a-long at the same time. The vocals during the final segment are particularly raw and emotive, managing to capture that is like getting lightning in a bottle and that quality is continued into “Monotony” which has the perfect balance between the crushing guitars and the clean vocals, once again making fine use of the orchestration to bolster the sound but making sure not to overdo it and keeping it understated. Ensuring that the album doesn’t have a soft underbelly and keeping the high grade incendiary quality going “Nothing” takes the style of this album as a whole while adding elements of 2003 era Metalcore and the results are phenomenal as you can actually hear the link between May The Tempest and the bands that pioneered the genre back then encapsulated within one single song. How they’ve managed to craft that into the riffs and rhythms beggars belief and is simply jaw dropping.

“Nowhere” introduces an impressive tapping section along with a huge and powerful chorus that resonates as the band push the envelope and blur the lines at the very extremes of the Metalcore genre and show there is more to them than meets the eye before taking a step back into “Ghost” that leans on the bands core sound further, once again finding that perfect balance between light and shade. Blending Post-Hardcore elements with some seriously crunchy Metalcore for “Clouds” works incredibly well and gives the track a great flow with some gravity defying highs and skull crushing lows while “Vanity” buries the synths into the mix to underpin the whole track and giving it an icy quality that sets the tone for the sinister “Endure“. A cut that would work really well as a live intro, it uses programming to distort the vocals and glitch them while the war drums pound alongside a sinister haunting piece of lead work. It serves as an introduction piece for “Unspoken Agreement“, a galloping rampant Metalcore classic than a band like Unearth would be proud to call their own as it bulldozes everything in its path. The only problem with the entire album is the fade on this final cut because the ramping riffs that are fading out sound too good. If anyone wants to ask about the health of Metalcore in 2021 then hand them this record, thanks to bands like this one, there is plenty of life in the Old Dog yet [8.5/10]

Track listing

1. Unity
2. Infinite
3. Different
4. Gravity
5. Vacant
6. Monotony
7. Nothing
8. Nowhere
9. Ghost
10. Clouds
11. Vanity
12. Endure
13. Unspoken Agreement

“Rise To Remain” by May The Tempest is out 19th March 2021