Maylene and the sons of Disaster is a southern rock/hardcore band. They formed in 2004 birmingham, alabama. Their last self titled cd was quite the success in the southern-hardcore scene. You know that scene, the one where all the kids with black gelled hair wear plaid shirts and think their suddenly southern. The scene that all the metalheads hate. Yeah. Well Dallas taylor and the rest of the guys are back with another cd titled "II"...is it just me or do they think their led zeppelin now? Oh well. I s'pose I'll do this review track-by-track.
1. Memories Of The Grove - we start the cd off with a..what is that? a SOUTHERN guitar solo! The last cd went more towards the shred solo approach which always confused me if your going to be a southern band why not do southern solos. Well they fixed that. as soon as you hear this first cd you know Maylene have improved on everything, from instruments to vocals to lyrics. All the riffs on this song are southern style. Dallas' vocals have gotten a bit softer, but sound even more aggressive some how. this song has about..three guitar solos, a catchy whisper-chanted chorus which is just great.
4.5/5
2. Dry The River - I think this is the band's first single off the cd. starts off with some african sounding drums, and yes. ANOTHER guitar solo. Lynard skynard style and all. Most of the song's riffs are chug-styled. This is definatly the most cliche song on the cd, catchy. but cliche. probubly the popiest sounding song too, i belive it's about a relationship. This song is good the first few times you hear it, but after that it's one of the songs you'll end up skipping
2.5/5
3. Plenty strong and plenty wrong - this song just screams "Southern bad-ass". The intro, i think for the first time in maylene history makes use of their three guitarists. southern harmonized riff which makesyou want to wear over-alls. Then we go into the song, medium paced aggressive style. catchy chorus, short song. all round' good song
4/5
4. Darkest Of Kin - Ohh, we get our first chug riff. sounds like a song that should've been on the last cd. Full of breakdowns. no chorus. Just aggression. Nothing quite special about this song. a bit of a filler.
3.5/5
5. Raised by the tide - we've got a GREAT southern riff. whipping out some sick pinched harmonics. The verse is chugg-ish you'll find yourself headbanging to. then we get to the chorus which is definatly a texas sing along. im sure this will be a crowd favorite. the entire song just flows togather perfectly. definatly a suggested track
5/5
6. Wylie - Somthing up-beat. semi-fast paced with heavier vocals. MORE breakdowns, catchy chorus. its a bit like the last track just more..aggressive. not much else to say about it
4/5
7. Death is an alchaholic - This is already a fan favorite song. A bit more of a melodic chorus approach. first verse kind of sounds a bit forced. the chorus kicks in, no build up really though. the 2nd verse is more of an angry hardcore type o' thing. No guitar solo though, only compaint with this one
4/5
8. Everyone Needs A Hasting - Okay, this song sounds like all the other songs. great riffs and solos, but definatly a filler track. the drum beat actually never changes. I definatly always skip this one
2/5
9 . Don't Ever Cross A Trowell - This is already another fan favorite. Dallas' vocals sound verry southern in this one. the chorus is him yelling "Moma didn't raise no fool", followed by harmonized palm muted riffs. we get a decent breakdown at the end of the song
4.5/5
10. Tales Of The Runaways - Maylene actually wrote a..COUNTRY SONG!! and a GREAT one too. Banjos and slide sand everything!! Has a very atmospheric sound to it as Dallas tells a story with laid back clean vocals. not exactly catchy, but good to lay back and chill out to.
4.5/5
11. The Day Hell Broke Loose At Sicard Hollow - and instrumental to end the cd. more banjo and slow guitar. depressing sound to it. Ususally i don't enjoy insturmental songs unless their Nevermore or somthing shred-tastic like that. but this one is very pretty and enjoyable.
3.5/5
Overall - MUCHHH improvement from maylene and the sons of disaster's last cd. All the riffs are completly southern. Maylene has lost that scene sound to them. Scene kids will definatly not like this cd, everything about it is much more original. this is a southern classic.
