Review Summary: A surprisingly solid debut
The first release from any given band is usually going to be bad. The band still hasn’t found their identity, their sound isn’t refined and, a lot of the time, the debut comes off as a sampler of what the band may eventually try to do further down the road. It’s also the time when the band is most likely to come off as a rehash of another group before actually developing their own identity. Thankfully, none of these generalizations apply to Memphis May Fire’s self-titled EP. The band is solidly rooted in the Southern-core genre and the songs already sound refined almost to the point of album-readiness.
The EP, clocking in at 19 minutes, highlights not only a band with huge amounts of potential but also reflects the talent that the band already has. Instrumental prowess is immediately evident. The intro to Cowbell’s Making a Comeback features some of the slickest guitar playing by a Southern-core outfit ever. Throughout the EP, you can hear the sweeps, taps, and other tricks-of-the-trade thrown in as well. Despite this, the lead riff often sounds like the backbone of the sound though. Instead of the drums and bass supporting it, they are buoyed by the strength of Kellen McGregor’s guitar. McGregor’s counterpart, Ryan Bentley, is basically absent throughout the EP: which is one of my few complaints about it. Meanwhile, the drumming flies along at a breakneck pace and the bass- which you can actually hear sometimes- keeps up the pace while either highlighting the drums or complementing the pinches that McGregor tends to throw in. Overall, this is a very musically strong EP.
Chase Ryan is obviously the star of the show though. His screams are harsh yet accessible: you can understand nearly every word that he says. This is a mixed blessing, because some of the lyrics are overtly preachy and also the weakest component of the EP. Although the lyrics are disappointing, Ryan’s vocals never do. He forgoes attempts at high squeals in favor of refining his mid-level range and throws in a few growls for good measure. This adds the right amount of variation without him sounding boring. His voice also brings some flair to the breakdowns that are scattered throughout the EP. These breakdowns aren’t used as a gimmick; instead, they’re used to change the tempo of the song without losing the momentum. Surprisingly, the breakdowns are some of the EP’s highlights. The clean vocals, which are provided by McGregor, aren’t as good as Ryan’s, but still sound good enough to justify using them as often as the group does. Sometimes, McGregor and Ryan even trade lines during the verses. This is different from the typical metalcore convention and shows that although Memphis May Fire is a young group, they’re already starting to generate their own ideas and mature.
Maturity is an obvious strength of the entire group. From the guitar that strays from the typical power chord arrangement to Ryan’s unorthodox (at the time) spoken word lines, Memphis May Fire show off the kind of innovation needed to change a stale genre. Although this is impossible to accomplish with just one EP, the band at least has the necessary parts and the talent to do it in the future. Regardless of if they will, they’ll always have this EP to show as an example of one of the highlights of both the Southern-core and Post-Hardcore genres.
