MEMPHIS MAY FIRE | Broken | Album Review

Memphis May Fire has a tricky history behind them as many people know them as being one of the metalcore acts to take the genre into the direction that it's currently in now. Truth is, the band began in 2007 taking in more of a southern rock twinged style of metalcore in their earlier days. After the vocal switch early on from Chase Ryan to Matty Mullins, and their eventual long term record deal with Rise Records we got a straight-up metalcore style with albums like "The Hollow" and "Challenger" showcasing that sound to the masses. As with many bands, though, Memphis May Fire have gotten a bit more "accessible" with this style, or at least they are trying to go that direction, proven by the band's sixth studio album "Broken". This record truly feels like a departure from their previous sound as they've started to get some charting success on the rock charts, but as Matty Mullins is a devout Christian, they've started to attract religious audiences as well. That's not to say that Christian rock/metal fans always want radio rock music, but the evolution does become succinct once you go through their discography. All bands must evolve and change things up in order to remain relevant or at least showcase that they can execute different styles which is a promising aspect about this record. Several bands of Memphis May Fire's ilk have done it before and done it quite well, so it's only fair that it translates well for this band, right? 

With the announcement of "Broken", we got only one single from this album in the form of "The Old Me". It is respected that there was really just one single to promote this project and nothing else considering bands will overwhelm us with several with a few of those even teetering around the five/six single mark. It's nice to see a band only pushing out one single with the other tracks saved for later. Having had a mixed relationship with this band as several albums did not really connect with me as they felt more like followers rather than leaders, I was truly caught off guard with the song "The Old Me" as I felt that this was the right single to showcase a new direction in 2018. Yes, this track is about what you'd expect from a song about somebody not feeling like themselves with lines like "I feel like a stanger to myself" and "I don't like who I've become" heard throughout, but they work in some good riffs and that chorus is a super catchy one that you'd want to hear repeatedly, especially seeing as how the first line of the chorus, "Say it again, say it again, tell me what I want to hear", meshes so well with the instrumentation here. This sort of feels like Memphis May Fire heard something that a band like Red or Skillet made and wanted to replicate that the best that they could, and it works. Unfortunately, however, I feel that this song, "The Old Me", is the best song on this entire album, because bow howdy is this one of the most generic albums I have heard in recent memory. 

For anyone expecting me to say things such as "this album isn't bad because there are a few good moments" or "it isn't as bad as it could possibly get", I cannot possibly say that here as it really feels like Memphis May Fire made one genuinely good song and just decided to make the other nine songs the most lifeless, uninspired filler you've ever listened to. It's very hard to find a song on this album that's just okay or tolerable due to it being so generic. It's an album where you want to say a track is alright, but then you start to think about a moment in the song that immediately turns you off and makes you instantly regret hearing it. Some of the disc's more villainous moments come with tracks like "Sell My Soul", "Heavy Is The Weight" which features an extremely jarring rap section from Andy Mineo that instantly takes you out of the "mood" of the song, "Mark My Words", and the two closing moments "You & Me" and "Live Another Day". Not only do these tracks leave VERY little impact as most of them are under three minutes, but the writing is insufferable. This is all lyrical content we've heard before and they aren't even trying to do anything unique or creative with it other than a couple of moments here and there. It's as though Memphis May Fire are making rock music for elementary school kids who like to jump around in their room all day and want rock music but are too afraid to get into music that doesn't have creativity to it. I know that is a harsh comparison but that's really how every song after "The Old Me" feels. It begs the question: why settle for this album when it is clear there are MUCH better examples of this idea going strongly for other bands? 

Going back to my statement about there not being anything truly good or adequate on this album, I would probably say that the CLOSEST this album gets to that level is "Fool", which is a surprise. That song at the very least features a chorus and a main riff that I think works decently enough. It's not a great song but it stands out on this album. And although I do hate some of these tracks, none of them are going to stand out as the worst material of the year. But, this album sans "The Old Me", is so uninspired and, to be honest, leaning towards cynical at points due to several factors. This appears to be an album where Memphis May Fire saw what the other metalcore bands did with their sound (Of Mice And Men, Bring Me The Horizon) and decide to go that route, but fail miserably to add anything new to their palette. It instead feels like they watered the material down as much as possible. As someone who wants a genuinely good album from this band as I do notice some talent within, noticeably in the guitar riffs and Matty Mullin's vocal delivery, I have been disappointed several times and this is probably the worst of it. Overall, Memphis May Fire's sixth studio album is a misstep on nearly every level with phoned in material that we've heard multiple times. If you like this band, you will probably have a decent time with this album, especially if you're a newer fan, but you will pretty soon consider this album as not their best work. As for other fans of heavy music, look elsewhere.

RATING: 3/10

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