The Metalcore leaders Memphis May Fire return in 2025 with their new album Shapeshifter. At this stage in the game, veterans with nearly two decades under their belts, Texas’s Memphis May Fire has built a name for itself as a primary Modern Metal act with energetic performances after countless tours and playing at various festivals.
Offering highly emotional music that led Memphis May Fire to massive mainstream success and a global following in 2014 with the vast album Unconditional. At that time, it was the band’s fourth studio album, and since then, they have continued to grow and build strongly with albums such as 2016’s This Light I Hold and 2018’s Broken.
The band’s last release, Remade in Misery, was back in 2022, and after a few years of touring, it is ready to make a big impression with Shapeshifter. Released on March 28, 2025, through Rise Records, the band’s eighth full-length studio album was produced by founding Guitarist Kellen McGregor, who joined up with long-time Vocalist Matty Mullins, Bassist Cory Elder, and Drummer Jack Garland.
The album has ten tracks and moves quickly. It opens with “Chaotic,” a catchy, easy-going song that spreads energy and immediately grabs you. Then, “Infection” continues with rhythmic arrangements that will pull you along. Plenty more intense experiences join these with “Overdose” (which features a collaboration with Sweden’s Blindside), “Paralyzed,” and the dark yet melodic “Hell Is Empty.”
Later on, “Necessary Evil” comes at you in waves with varied vocals matched with the feelings rising and falling before a complete shift with “The Other Side.” The latter is the first slow piece of Shapshifter, giving you smooth arrangements, clean singing, and beautiful lyrics that make it stand out alongside others like “Versus.” Only mere moments of calm mixed into it all, the harsh title track and album closer “Love Is War,” with an infectious chorus of singing, shake you to the core again.
The interesting thing about Shapeshifter is that nine of the ten songs have been out for quite a while. Save the song “Versus,” which was the only one not pre-released between April 2024 and February 2025; many should already be familiar with this material. With that in mind, as a collective piece, even at merely thirty minutes, you are in for a wild emotional roller coaster ride. There are actual human emotions everyone struggles with in every corner of these songs. A powerful and beautiful album that offers a cathartic release, Cryptic Rock gives Shapeshifter 5 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment