Review Summary: Throwing aside the plague of II, Maylene is back and ready to rock.
All things considered, Maylene in its concept and talent is pretty spectacular. Maylene’s previous record, II was rather dreadful after their self-titled debut. II just wasn’t as supple, original and immense as its predecessor. III brings the band back to their original talent that really showed during their self-titled session. This may not be as heavy as any of the previous efforts but it still shines bright.
On this record you can tell by the beginning that it won’t be as heavy as the others. There is nothing wrong with that it takes such a great tone on the record in the fact that it is so tolerable and catchy. Maylene has gone from straight southern metalcore to a better mix of metalcore and southern rock. Not everything is screamed and with the help of instruments such as the banjo the southern influence really excels. For once the music really sounds original. There are fast songs, songs that sound like a metal version of Lynard Skynyrd and even an instrumental at the end of the album.
The opener “Waiting On My Deathbed” starts out with a banjo solo I guess you could call it. It really brings to light what these guys wanted to do with this record. It then steps into what you would consider your average Maylene song. It sounds like a typical Maylene song except there are 3 guitars on this album. I can’t say what is the reason for the 3rd axe but Dallas and crew decided there was a need. With the 3rd guitar in there it leaves the bass almost along with the extra guitar indistinguishable. One of the other things that have changed from II is Dallas’s singing. He has gone from metalcore screamer to learn the ability to actually sing. Not only has his clean, harmonious vocals gotten better but his screams especially his highs are just phenomenal.
“Just A Shock” is one of the best songs on the album and just as the title implies it is certainly a shock. They show the ability for metalcore, southern rock and just plain and simple rock. Dallas’s voice is spot on the entire time. His clean vocals meld so well with the screaming/yelling vocals that it makes the entire 3 minutes very enjoyable. Southern metalcore isn’t something that is done very often but the few bands that actually do it provide the genre justice. There aren’t that many bands of this genre out there, some of the notables are Maylene, Every Time I Die, He Is Legend, and the sometimes Norma Jean.
When I reached the sixth track “Listen Close” I found myself spun around in my chair. It started out like normal but then there was nothing but clean vocals. Now if you are reading this review and haven’t listened to the album you might think I am kidding but I kid you not. The entire song is sung without a scream or yell in it. It was a gamble on their part that I think won out massively. They use a voice distorter box at the end while Dallas sings just the simple “Woah, woah woah” and so on. It reminds me a bit too much of Bon Jovi and all those other hard rock bands that overuse it but I can forgive because this is a hell of an album aside from that.
The closer “The End Is Here…The End Is Beautiful” is an instrumental ending so what I would consider one of the best metalcore albums of 2009. I would almost describe it as beautiful as far as I could when referencing a metalcore album. All it is a simple acoustic song with some violin and other string instruments thrown in but it really closes the album well. Now I know that is quite the long shot and this album doesn’t quite stand up to those like The Tropic Rot, Constellations and Darkest Hour’s The Eternal Return but it sure does hold its own for a good while.
III shows the maturity that we knew Dallas and his crew were capable of. Despite losing 3/4ths of Maylene between II and III, the guys that were brought on to fill the spots fit in really well. The show the ability to sing without screaming, play guitar without the bass being noticeable and rock out when we needed it the most from them. So they have 3 guitars, 1 of which is unnecessary. They have a great singer, talented musicians to back him up and a really great concept they’ve already milked 3 albums for the material from. They are helping form the metalcore scene along with bringing some interesting concepts and fillers to the genre.
