Maximilian Wentz is a singer /songwriter and multi instrumentalist from Haverhill, Massachusetts, who combines elements of rock, metal and latin music with elements found in acoustic pop. He has German roots on his father’s side and Latin roots on his mother’s and, in my opinion, that combination makes for some pretty great music production.

Mare is his latest album and was released on 27/01/2023. With ten tracks with a total running time of 48 minutes and 29 seconds, this is an album that has lots of twists and turns and the listener really has no idea where they are heading next.

Each track differs greatly from the previous taking you on a journey through classic rock, into heavy metal, round the bend to some punk rock before throwing some death metal-esque sounds at you.

The album is mostly guitar-driven with heavy pounding riffs when they are needed some also with some more gentler acoustic sounding guitars at other times. The drumming is energetic and based on a classic rock style, pounding bass drums and lots of crashing cymbals (who doesn’t like lots of crashing cymbals, eh?) and the basslines are strong.

It’s the vocals on this album that really make it stand out. One minute Maximilian has an alternative rock style with that added grittiness that gives the tracks an edginess to them, yet the next he is throwing death metal growls at you! He is even great at the more ballady type of vocals, his voice becoming soft and gentle, yet still maintaining that strength that is needed for the rest of the vocals types he undertakes. It is the vocals of this album that create the twist and turns previously mentioned, as the listener is never really sure what type is coming next, and this is always, always a good thing!

The pacing and speed of this album is great and each track is perfectly placed with no two songs sounding the same, and the production is great.

This really is a breathtaking album and one at I am very happy I had the opportunity to listen to. I am going to scour Spotify and YouTube now to see what else I can find from this very talented musician. I urge you all to do the same.

Awesome album and one that Maximilian should be very proud of!

Track Listing:

1) The Sixth

2) Centrepiece

3) Your Silhouette

4) The Hunter

5) Teacher

6) Hospital

7) The Future

8) World Signal

9) Fallen

10) Thin

This review is purely the property of The Metal Asylum