''At Heart'' is the third studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band

Miss May I Miss May I is an American metalcore band from Troy, Ohio. Formed in 2007, they signed to Rise Records in 2008 and released their debut album, '' Apologies Are for the Weak'' through the label while the members were still attending high school. T ...

. The album was scheduled for release on May 29, 2012, but delayed to June 12, 2012. ''At Heart'' generally received positive reviews, noting the "mature" shift in sound with the band. The first single released from it was "Hey Mister" along with its accompanying music video. The album entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 32, selling over 12,000 copies in its first week.

Musical style

''At Heart'' is a

melodic metalcore Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm mute, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-sty ...

album that has been compared to the likes of

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin ...

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of guitarists Jon Donais and ...

, and

Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...

. The album employs heavy metal guitar riffs,

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

-influenced breakdowns,

death growls The death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Sometimes death growl vocals are criticized for thei ...

and clean vocals. Like its predecessors, ''At Heart'' also contains elements of

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

and

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

Release

Throughout the beginning of 2012, Miss May I were recording a new album for release some time during the summer. On March 8, 2012, the band announced that they had completed work on their new album titled ''At Heart'' and were set to release it on May 29, 2012. However, according to an interview by Levi Benton with, in order to incorporate last minute changes the band delayed the release to June 12. The first song leaked was "Hey Mister" that Rise Records premiered onto YouTube. Benton used his "thank yous" in album to propose to his wife, Jojo Bitter.

Track listing

Personnel

Miss May I * Levi Benton – lead vocals * Ryan Neff – bass guitar, clean vocals * B.J. Stead – lead guitar * Justin Aufdemkampe – rhythm guitar * Jerod Boyd – drums, percussion Production *

Machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

– producer,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, mixing * Brian Gardner – mastering * Alberto de Icaza – co-mixing * Mark Bucci – assistant * Adam Cichocki – assistant * Randy LeBeouf – assistant * Chris Rubey – assistant * Nick Scott –

/co-production * Clinton Bradley – sound design * Zac Schwiet – design * Rick Wait – photography

References

{{Authority control Miss May I albums 2012 albums Rise Records albums Albums produced by Machine (producer)