Yeah, I know—they are still going.
It’s a consequence of the utilitarian nature of Miss May I that their mere continued existence is so surprising. Back in the day, abstaining from trend-following was a noble practice, and 2012’s At Heart in particular benefited from it. Ever since, though, that’s gotten Miss May I less and less far. Excitement and enthusiasm levels sank like a stone, ultimately bringing us to where we are now. Miss May I have been without clout for a long time, but in 2026, it’s like they come from a completely different epoch of metal.
That’s not saying they should betray their values and hop onboard whatever metalcore bandwagon is hurtling by today. What it is saying is that they shouldn’t give up on making interesting music. Granted, that would’ve been better advice a decade ago to avoid albums like this. No Place For Me (*insert snide remark here*) is the worst example of its kind—metal that’s fixated on recapturing the magic of the 2000s, played fine but terribly, unavoidably plain in feel.
When Sanctuary kicks things off and fits that precise description to a T, that’s all the confirmation needed. Especially now, so far removed from their prime, a big, creative bait-and-switch isn’t even a fleeting thought in Miss May I’s collective mind. And what makes that sting further is, even though that’s such an obvious truth, No Place For Me dangles some nice flourishes. The stomping drums crunched by production on Hand Me A Halo; the stormy melodeath atmosphere of Pray For Silence; the particularly militant steer of Fire Fall; they’re all good, and not a single one lasts.
It’s telling that they’re all introductory stings for their respective songs, yanked away quickly as if to dissuade too much hope. It’s a design philosophy that’d almost seem unfair if it were at all unexpected. Again, this is Miss May I in 2026, whose function-over-fashion approach is taken as literally as possible. There’s nothing that constitutes a ‘big swing’; it’s stiff and routine, right the way down to the production that’s devoid of interest. If anything, that production undercuts No Place For Me even more, such is the lack of edge that manifests in the worst possible places. Both Death Threat and Die On The Vine sit well as thrashier numbers to start, only to be so ruthlessly walled off from delivering at full clip.
Dampening things further are Ryan Neff’s clean vocals, which were never this detrimental, if memory serves. Maybe it’s just the crumbling stance of Miss May I cutting a clean swathe through everything, as he’s so workmanlike in his performance. It’s a bit like when Joel Birch was still with The Amity Affliction, and the substandardness would bleed out and leach down into everything around. Pray For Silence begins as quite a strong melodeath track, only for all of that to audibly fall away the second that Neff sets foot behind the mic. Immediately after, Death Threat sounds as though it pulls it punches further to accommodate him, and Ashes Of The Altar is unimpressive enough without ill-fitting extended notes. This would also be the point to bring up Levi Benton’s screams as a counterweight, but he has even less to mention, good or bad.
If there’s one unequivocal positive to say about No Place For Me, it’s the rhythm section are doing some back-breaking labour to pick up the slack. Drummer Jerod Boyd especially is the one to commend, as the one with the greatest understanding of the weight that made 2000s metalcore good in the first place. The machine-gun kicks on Hand Me A Halo are solid, while the fast tempos of Death Threat, Die On The Vine and Bury Me Down all work great on Boyd’s end (the last of those even taking some glances at blastbeats). Ryan Neff, meanwhile, has channelled every drop of creative acumen into his bass, and its always good to hear his prominent, angry tone on Hand Me A Halo and Pray For Silence.
From all of that, then, the final conclusion to draw is that Miss May I aren’t incompetent, but they have no ideas left for how to fly anymore. No Place For Me is circling the drain hard and fast, and desperately clinging to whatever tattered vestiges of relevance are left. It’s the furthest thing from interesting enough to break out of that spin, but even if, by some miracle, it did, then what? Do Miss May I have the musical prosperity to facilitate another wind for themselves, after more than a decade of sinking into irrelevance? No. No, they do not.
For fans of: Killswitch Engage, Bury Tomorrow, Shadows Fall
‘No Place For Me’ by Miss May I is released on 2nd October on Solid State Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
