The Maverick Boys deliver super crunchy hard rock, with a gilt-edged guitar attack combining with vocal chants a plenty.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Maverick
ALBUM: Ethereality
LABEL: Metalapolis Records
SERIAL: MPR0107 CD
YEAR: 2021
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: 
LINEUP: David Balfour – vocals * Ryan Balfour – guitars * Ric Cardwell – guitars * Richie Diver – bass Jason-Steve Mageney – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Falling * 02 Thirst * 03 Never * 04 Switchblade Sister * 05 Bells Of Stygian * 06 Angels 6 * 07 The Last One * 08 Dying Star * 09 Light Behind Your Eyes * 10 Ares
RATING: 
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Northern Irish band Maverick have been reviewed here at Glory Daze twice before, though I believe this latest one is their fourth release overall. Other than their debut album, Maverick have been with Metalapolis Records since 2016’s ‘The Big Red’, the band picking up many online friends along the way.
The Maverick Boys deliver super crunchy hard rock, with a gilt-edged guitar attack combining with vocal chants a plenty. There are plenty of other contenders out doing similar things but many don’t have the staying power that these blokes have, and even though they might fly under the radar of the listening public, most of the hard rock review sites are well aware of our Belfast friends.
The Songs
The first thing that is apparent to me are the vocals of David Balfour who sounds like the spitting image of Robbie La Blanc. It’s so uncanny you could imagine the singers being totally interchangeable!
Armed with a battery of single-syllable song titles, Maverick blaze a path through early 2021 like Superman and his famed heat vision. Yes the woah woahs are heard once again but are not as blatant as what was heard on the recent Walk The Walk album for instance. So, bestowed with this knowledge, you should have a fair idea what to expect.
The second observation about the album is that there’s no ballads. Ten tracks of hard-hitting action. From the opener ‘Falling’ to the closer ‘Ares’, it’s all happening. Highlights include the Motley Crue flavoured ‘Light Behind Your Eyes’ which borrows a few ideas from ‘Dr Feelgood’ (the song), especially that main riff.
‘Angels 6’ lays on a near-perfect tempo to deliver their message, while the first trio of ‘Falling’, ‘Thirst’ and ‘Never’ build the album’s momentum before we hit the halfway point. ‘Switchblade Sister’ is the album’s selection for video, as you can see below.
In Summary
The thing about Maverick is their consistency. However, it’s also their trojan horse, because much of the material doesn’t deviate, which means it has a samey aspect to it. I did like some tracks from previous albums but this album doesn’t hit the high water mark from the past.
Video
Switchblade Sister
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