Album Review: Miss May I – Curse of Existence (SharpTone Records)

American metalcore band, Miss May I will release their long-awaited new album, ‘Curse of Existence’ on September 2nd, 2022 via SharpTone Records.

Vocalist Levi Benton had this to say about the record:

Curse Of Existence is exactly what it reads, the curse we have in our existence. This doesn’t mean anything strictly negative, but it covers all existence that is the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, the sorrow and the joy. Everything that comes with life comes with a lesson and a price and that is what we have put into this new album. It tells our lessons over our lives that have shaped us and have brought us to the very bottom of our lowest low and the tallest point to our highest high. We know the reflection we all went through during the world coming to a halt and that experience brought a lot of these sheltered emotions to light!

Always a welcome return, it has been five years since the last Miss May I full-length and a lot has happened in the world. Events and situations that are reflected in the music of Curse of Existence. Miss May I have been through a lot, yet here they stand, unbowed and stronger than ever. Able to express both the highs and lows of their lives here. It means Curse of Existence has honesty and passion that cuts through.

From the word ‘go’, Miss May I on fine, blistering form. The savage verses of A Smile That Does Not Exist balanced by a soaring chorus and a breakdown kicking all kinds of ass. A groovy rhythm and robust metal intensity that makes up Earth Shaker, an apt name thanks to the crushing drum beats. The heavy frenzy of serrated riffs and throat-tearing vocals that make their mark on Bleed Together and the bristling Into Oblivion. A track that has one of the album’s strongest choruses overall but also features an impressive guitar solo too.

The halfway point of the album, Hollow Vessel serves as an example of just how intent Miss May I are on delivering pointed heaviness. There’s no messing around, no wasted seconds. This track, and the album as a whole, moves at an intense pace but has plenty of high-calibre detail to unpick.

With technical touches, wild flips and tricks, immense cleaner choruses and some undeniable barbarity elsewhere, Free Fall and Born Destroyers keep Curse of Existence sounding so very powerful. If it didn’t feel like necessary listening before, these two tracks will certainly do the job of convincing you that it is.

Unconquered takes the crown for the heaviest and most intense track on the album though. A blistering showcase of Miss May I’s metalcore abilities. Though the viciousness that comes from Savior to Self isn’t too far off that crown either. We could set the world on fire indeed.

As already stated, Miss May I have kept this album really tight and concise. So, with one last blast of heavy and in your face forcefulness, the album comes to an end. The power and passion of the band’s creativity expelled one last time into the elaborate mayhem that is Bloodshed.

Curse of Existence is a cathartic listen. The undeniable metalcore quality that has made Miss May I a beloved name on the scene taken to new heights.

Miss May I – Curse of Existence Full Track Listing:

1. A Smile That Does Not Exist
2. Earth Shaker
3. Bleed Together
4. Into Oblivion
5. Hollow Vessel
6. Free Fall
7. Born Destroyers
8. Unconquered
9. Savior to Self
10. Bloodshed

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