Artist: Maxdmyz
Title: Cosmic Hearse
Type: EP
Label: Renegade Records

Maxdmyz announce their music as “Digital Death n Roll”. What I heard on “Cosmic Hearse”, a four track EP, was a lively and varied piece of Metalcore. In parts it’s old style, it’s classic, not exactly Death, not exactly Hardcore, and alternately melodic and aggressive.

The opening track “Seed” is more along the lines of Classic metal. It’s forceful and forward-driving. I could visualise the singer marching round the stage. Nothing is rammed down our throats, in fact it’s a well-constructed song with a dark guitar rhythm running through it, and with heavier sections. “Sayer” starts faster and punk-like before dropping into more conventional territory. The singer’s voice alternates between cleanness and growls. I’m not sure I really got this track. Much of the energy surrounds the singer’s varying styles of exhortations but about what? The guitar instrumentals convey an aggression without drowning out the singer and the track ends with a retro, almost Hendrix-style guitar section. “Lift Your Head” is another thumping number. The guitar rhythm is twirling, and there’s plenty of controlled passion from the multi-ranged and dominant vocalist. Again my reaction was mixed. “Lift Your Head” is quite hooky, but it’s a bit wordy and doesn’t develop into anything. I liked the final track “Cosmic Hearse”. The control of pace is good and there’s plenty of movement and energy. I particularly enjoyed a slower passage. For the first time the guitar work led into the vocals. For me this worked much better than earlier tracks where we tended to be showered with words and the vocalist’s undoubtedly versatile range. The track “Cosmic Hearse” was more rounded as a result.

This EP comprises four individually crafted tracks. To the credit of Maxdmyz, they don’t particularly sound like anyone. I did however have some difficulty in pinning down what they were trying to be, or working out who this might appeal to. “Cosmic Hearse” is in some ways quite a complex work and much seems to hang on the singer’s dominant switching of vocal style and energy, but I didn’t get what they were driving at. Is there some significance to it? I don’t know. There were successes, notably the last track, and the quality of musicianship is undoubtedly there, but the music needed to set the tone more. Whilst interesting, I never felt really connected to “Cosmic Hearse”.

http://www.myspace.com/maxdmyz
http://www.maxdmyz.co.uk
http://www.renegadeuk.net