Maryslim - A Perfect Mess
Wild Kingdom Records - King035CD - 17 July 2007
By: Michael Koger
I had never heard of
Maryslim prior to receiving their cd to review. When I saw the production was handled by Peter Tagtgren of
Hypocrisy notoriety, I naturally expected to hear a solid slab of swedish death metal about aliens or the destruction of mankind. While it isn't a slab of death metal,
Maryslim's
A Perfect Mess is a solid slab of good hard rockin fun.
The two bands I've seen
Maryslim compared to the most are bands like
Foo Fighters and
Backyard Babies, and these comparisons are pretty accurate. The songs aren't too complex; instead they are catchy, rockin songs. Don't be surprised if you listen to the album and find yourself humming one of the melodies later on. They're infective. The riffs are tasteful and modest but are very much in front of the mix along with the vocals which are sung very clearly. Looking at a picture of the band, some of the members look like seasoned rock veterans. They certainly play like one.
Hints of influence from
Kiss,
The Clash and
the Sex Pistols shine through in bits and pieces of the songs. Having such a large pool of influences makes
Maryslim's sound very chameleon like. It can be enjoyed by the hard rockers, the alt rockers, the stoner rockers and even open minded metalheads. Whether it's the pop punk of '[/i]In Too Deep[/i]', the almost latter-era Sentenced like '
High Wings' or radio friendly '
It All Comes Down', this album is very accessible, and it slightly surprises me that
Maryslim isn't a bigger act than they are. They are known as a tour heavy band. With a road dedication like that and solid recording material,
Maryslim should go places.
Official Maryslim website
Wild Kingdom records website
