'' Lies to Light the Way ''is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

Myka Relocate Myka Relocate was an American metalcore band formed in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2007, later based in Houston, Texas. The band has released three studio albums,'' Self Portrait as a Frozen Father'', '' Lies to Light the Way'' and '' The Young Sou ...

. Released on 29 October 2013, the work was produced by

Cameron Mizell Cameron Pierce Mizell is an American artist, songwriter, singer, record producer and owner of Chango Studios. He began producing music in 2003 & has worked with Billboard charts, Billboard top charting artists such as Sleeping With Sirens, Memphis ...

and published by

Artery Recordings Artery Recordings is an American record label based in Sacramento, California founded in 2010 as an imprint of Razor & Tie by Eric Rushing, owner of The Artery Foundation. On August 31, 2017, it was announced that Artery was acquired by Warner ...

. The album ranked No.22 on

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

Background

In early 2013, after parting ways with

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Sam Albarado, the band recruited Aaron Robertson to perform on drums. Midway through the year the ensemble was signed by

Composition

Vocalist John Ritter refers to debut single "Doublespeak" as "a big middle finger to those people" who caused the ensemble to be "dragged in the dirt in the past and played like chess pieces". He goes on to say that "if they didn't do what they did, we wouldn't be as aggressive in making this happen", and that this is the meaning of album title "Lies to Light the Way". The vocalist then described "Useless" as "one of

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

meanest songs", alluding to "rock stars" and "people who take their positions for granted, exploit their fame, and have overbearing egos".

Promotion

In September 2013, the title of their album was announced as'' Lies to Light the Way''. At that time, "Doublespeak" was broadcast as the first single from the album. To promote the album, the group toured in late 2013 with

This or the Apocalypse HAWK (formerly This or The Apocalypse) is an American metalcore band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania that formed in 2005. History ''Monuments'' (2005–2009) In 2008 the band signed to European metal label Lifeforce Records, and released the ...

, Honour Crest and Tear Out the Heart on

The Browning The Browning is an American metalcore band formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 2005. The band's musical style is characterized by an eclectic blending of electronicore and deathcore. The group currently consists of vocalist Jonny McBee, drummer ...

's "The Hypernova Tour". On 24 October 2013, a full stream of the studio album was made available to the public. At the beginning of 2014, the band published "Something to Dream About", the very first music video from the ensemble followed by a live music video of "Useless". In the latter part of that year, a music video for "Playing It Safe" along with a lyric video for "Admitting The Truth" were published. In early 2015, the group published an acoustic version of their debut music video.

Critical reception

Carl Schulz of'' The Snapper'' newspaper at

Millersville University Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

describes the album as being "praised for its distinctive clashes between gripping unclean vocals provided by John Ritter, bone-crushing breakdowns, and sugary-sweet clean vocals". The Door night club in

Deep Ellum Deep Ellum is an American neighborhood composed largely of arts and entertainment venues near downtown in East Dallas, Texas. The name is based on a corruption of the area's principal thoroughfare, Elm Street. Older alternative uses include De ...

describes the work as "twelve tracks that segue from gnashing technical guitars into immediately irresistible refrains", going on to say that "Electronic flourishes color the sound at points, while every element falls into an impenetrable groove reminiscent of Deftones or Sleeping with Sirens". Ryan De Freitas of DEAD PRESS! likened the group to

Memphis May Fire Memphis May Fire is an American metalcore band formed in Denton, Texas and currently signed to Rise Records. The band currently consists of lead guitarist Kellen McGregor, lead vocalist Matty Mullins, bassist Cory Elder, and drummer Jake Garla ...

and

Kellin Quinn Kellin Quinn is an American singer and musician. He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens. Aside from his band, he is well-known for collaborating with other artists. Career Quinn is the vocalis ...

portraying the tunes as "pretty infectious when it’s at its best and with a bit of refining and more sporadic usage" continuing on to state that "Some of the better

racks Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin m ...

could easily reach nthemic heights. Kriston McConnell of Under the Gun Review however, compared Swank's vocals to those of Andy Leo from

Crown The Empire Crown the Empire is an American metalcore band formed in 2010 in Dallas, Texas. They have released one EP and four studio albums. History Formation and ''Limitless'' EP (2010–2011) Crown the Empire was formed in May 2010, when "Brandon ...

Track listing

Personnel

* John Ritter -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Michael Swank - vocals * Luke Burleigh - bass * Austin Doré - guitar, programming * Josh Peltier -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Aaron Robertson -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Chart history

References

{{Authority control Myka Relocate albums Albums produced by Cameron Mizell 2013 debut albums