
While Maven in general have exceedingly slow harmonies, you can have a modest degree of satisfaction listening to it. The technical elements displayed by the band are way more efficient than its stagnant creativity, although they showcase a pungent and highly concentrated level of comprehension on their genre of choice, and seems secure exposing it’s more virulent and aggressive qualities – confined to some random passages of intense and hostile volatility – which are definitely the highlight of the album.
With calmer melodies confined to a very homogeneous sound, there is not enough elements on Maven to sustain a profound discussion about their sound. As the album progresses, though, it gets better and better, especially from the fourth track onwards. My favorite track is definitely the fifth, Echo. Despite being ardently slow, the song is beautiful, and its graciously expansive musical devices are relatively distinct from other songs on the album. With heavier and dense guitar lines, it’s the most pungent, visceral and redemptive track, although, in a broader evaluation, showcases the generic standards present in the other songs as well. The final track, Oblio, is also very good. Its harmonies deliver a poetic and melancholic horizon of depressive and somnolent splendor, that will sleep forever in the adjacent emptiness of its own latent impatience.
In the end, Maven is not a bad album. It’s just too ordinary, and somewhat predictable. While definitely this work has a modest degree of qualities – able to entertain enthusiasts of post rock –, it will hardly impress anyone. Nevertheless, its good work. This band just have to learn how to be a little more original, emotional and creative.
Wagner