German vegan, straightedge metalcore band Maroon
have been around since 1998. Their main influences are pulled from Earth
Crisis but don’t neglect metal cornerstone bands like Iron Maiden,
At The Gates and In Flames. I even some comparisons between them and God
Forbid and Shadows Fall. While not being a totally fresh sound they still
seem to carry more with their music than the bulk of other metalcore bands.
They just simply have more balls in my opinion, plus who can argue with
riffs akin to At The Gates? Maroon does have some Swedish death metal influences
but they are really hardcore with edge. The melodic death riffs are worthy
but the overall vibe just seem more like hardcore. Plus the vocals are mainly
the yelling hardcore vocals and they have those beat-driven breakdowns that
are ripe and ready for hardcore dancing. The band can be aggressively heavy
at times and then switch to some decent melodic solos, which shows their
dynamics. Also, track nine is an instrumental with melodic and metallic
parts. Pleasing to the ears. One final note, guest vocalists on “When
Worlds Collide “consist of Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), Roger Merit
(Agnostic Front) and Mikkel Sandanger (Mercenary). This is something hardcore
and metalcore fans should both like.
Rating: 79
Reviewed By: Jeffrey D. Adkins |
