Posted on: July 5, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster – II / 2007 Ferret / 11 Tracks / http://www.mayleneandthesonsofdisaster.us / http://www.ferretstyle.com /

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is a band that blends together Corrosion of Conformity (“Deliverance”-era) with Marilyn Manson, and puts it in a way that listeners in the current period can love. “Memories of the Grove” is the first track on “II”, and it shows the band as being very comfortable in their surroundings. Even though the band is one of the harder acts out there, they have one of the best production values.

At no point during “II” do Maylene and the Sons of Disaster allow their sound to be compromised by the producer or production. The band moves back from the harder sound of “Memories of the Gove” for “Dry The River”, but move into an early Soundgarden and Fear Factory sound. As with the opening track, the band is able to blend a very heavy, hard rock style with something that could conceivably make it onto rock radio. With two tracks on “II” under their belt, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster are sitting pretty. “Plenty Strong and Plenty Wrong” is the next track on the disc, and it moves the focus of Maylene to a slightly more southern style. During this track, I hear a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band still has a heavy side to them, but the band has moved back to the halcyon days of hair rock for this one.  

Where the band had moved back about twenty years in the past for “Plenty Strong and Plenty Wrong”, “Darkest of Kin” is a track that has a vocal style that blends together equal parts Lemmy (Motorhead) with Disturbed. Regardless, this is a current sounding song however one cuts it. The band goes back to the southern rock sound for the opening of “Raised By The Tide”, but seems to couch this style more in the delta blues that preceded the rock style. This is due to the fact that “II” is largely a theme album, where the band discusses the travails of Ma Barker. While it is hard at points to hear exactly what the band is singing, the full album most likely has lyrics and individuals can see exactly the progression of the story. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster make a tremendous theme album in “II”. I see a lot of Every Mother’s Nightmare in the band, and I can only hope that the act gets a little bit more well known than EMN.

Top Tracks: Raised By The Tide, Don’t Ever Cross A Trowell

Rating: 7.1/10

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