II

Album Review

One thing that made Pantera stick out from the metal masses was that they never shied away from their down-home, Southern rock roots. And you can definitely say the same about Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. While the average listener would consider them a metal band, the overabundance of blues n' boogie based riffs suggests there's more than meets the eye, especially on their 2007 release, II. Former frontman for Underoath, Dallas Taylor, still has a hard time saying no to scream-singing, which he feverishly provides throughout the album. And another thing that screams "metal" is the album cover image and the pictures found inside the CD booklet, which graphically depict a grizzly backwoods slaying of all six Maylene bandmembers, bloodstains and all. But beyond all the horror images is one helluva rocking album, especially such standouts as "Dry the River," "Plenty Strong and Plenty Wrong," and "Raised by the Tide." With overtly technical, third-generation Iron Maiden-worshippers comprising much of the metal landscape circa the early 21st century, it's good to hear some Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top injected in all the riffing, and II certainly cements Maylene and the Sons of Disaster's standing as Southern rock kings.