MISS MAY I took a step beyond the metalcore world they had grown up in with the release of the record At Heart. The record, produced by renowned record producer Machine (Lamb Of God), proved to be one of the strongest and most surprising metal records of the last few years, spawning huge singles in the songs ‘Hey Mister’ and ‘Day By Day’. Entering the Billboard Top 200 charts in its first week at #32, At Heart saw the band embrace a more mainstream metal approach to their music. The resulting campaign saw them nominated for ‘Best New Talent’ award at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, as well as headlining the Alternative Press 2012 Tour, and picking up support at Active Rock Radio for the first time. On the live side, the band was hand-picked for tours with the likes of Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage and Bullet For My Valentine.
Now, these five young men from Troy, Ohio will complete the transition from movers and shakers to genuine groundbreakers with their upcoming blistering new offering, Rise Of The Lion.
Rise Of The Lion is set to hit stores in North America on April 29, 2014 via Rise Records (April 28 in the UK, April 25 in Australia). This is MISS MAY I’s fourth album and the first to be produced by the legendary Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones, White Zombie, Bring Me The Horizon).
This Thursday, February 27th, the band will launch the first single from Rise Of The Lion, ‘Gone’, as well as official album pre-orders. Rise Of The Lion will be available in digital, physical CD, and vinyl versions.
Rise Of The Lion track listing:
1. Refuse To Believe
2. Lunatik
3. Gone
4. Echoes
5. You Want Me
6. Tangled Tongues
7. Hero With No Name
8. Darker Days
9. The End Of Me
10. Saints, Sinners, and Greats
The worldwide release of Rise Of The Lion will be supported by a brief headline tour of the United States this April and May, with support from For The Fallen Dreams. MISS MAY I will stop in eight cities, including a closer in their home state of Ohio at Rock On The Range. See below for a full listing of tour dates.
MISS MAY I U.S. Tour Dates:
4/29 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
4/30 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
5/1 Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom
5/2 Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
5/3 New York, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall
5/4 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
5/6 Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary
5/18 Columbus, OH @ Rock On The Range
“Rise Of The Lion is a big step forward for our band. It’s our most diverse record by far. The main goal was to create a timeless metal record that defines our band and I believe we have done it,” states frontman Levi Benton.
Inspiration lyrically for Rise Of The Lion came from letters MISS MAY I has received from fans over the years. “I wanted to find a new perspective to write from on this record. I wanted it to be less about me and my life, as I feel I covered that a lot on the last record,” adds Levi. “So I have this huge box of letters we’ve received from fans over the years. Often they are about how our songs have helped people through tough times or been the soundtrack to great times. So I decided to write songs from the perspective of different fans who have written to us.”
MISS MAY I’s unique artwork for Rise Of The Lion strikingly features their lion emblem freshly tattooed on a fan’s back.
Levi adds, “We really wanted to bring our lion emblem back for Rise Of The Lion. It’s something that people associate with our band and something that was missing on the last record. That said, we wanted something fresh and exciting. We see so many people with that tattoo and it really has become synonymous with our band and our fans. So we decided to find one special fan to have it tattooed on them and represent this record. We wanted a really nasty, bloody, fresh tattoo to symbolize the dedication we and our fans have for this band. Nice, bloody, and metal!”
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