Review Summary: Maylene improve their songwriting formula but still leave a bit to be desired.
The major issue with Maylene and The Sons of disaster’s second album was the lack of progression from its predecessor. At times several of II’s songs just seemed like b-sides to their first album. In that regard III attempts to correct these problems, with that in mind don’t expect some massive alteration within the band’s sound.
For the most part III is what II should have been, casting off the small amount of leftover Metalcore that lingered around the first two albums, III continues further into southern rock territory. That being said the band is still able to be heavy when they need to be and the combination of their metal aspects and their more refined rock aspects leads to an enjoyable listen.
Perhaps the largest improvement for the band is Dallas Taylor’s vocal performance: throughout the record he pushes himself to the limit making transition from his raspy shouts to higher pitched screams and into clean territory. His ability to move through various tones and pitches fluidly is impressive to say the least. Notably “Listen Close” is sung entirely in clean vocals and is definitely the shining moment on the album vocally.
Another major point of interest is the album’s guitar work, in 2008 the band’s three guitarists left and were subsequently replaced. As far as picking up where the previous guitarists left off the three new members have done well, that being said there still isn’t anything particularly outstanding guitar-wise. The occasional solo’s and riffs are enjoyable but, at the same time you may find yourself questioning the purpose of the third guitarist. At times it really doesn’t seem necessary or noticeable for that matter.
The rhythm section is adequate although, with the aforementioned 3 guitar attack going on you’ll find the bass audibly absent many a time. That being said the drum work is relatively consistent and whilst there isn’t a ton of interesting fills littered throughout the album there’s also relatively few slip ups. From a song writing perspective, the band is driven by their guitar work and Taylor’s vocals, unfortunately, this leads to the occasional limitation on the band’s sound. Specifically a more dominant performance from the rhythm section would have been enjoyable.
Overall Maylene and The Sons of Disaster’s third release is a solid album. Hopefully in future efforts the band may move away from the constrictions of guitar driven southern rock but for now what’s on offer should satisfy listeners. The band manages to maintain the heaviness of their sound whilst incorporating the more soothing aspects in a much better way then they previously have. Still it would’ve been nice for the band to really shake things up and experiment but perhaps that can wait for their next release.
