Venomous Maximus – No Warning (Shadow Kingdom)
Thursday, 13th July 2017
Certainly one of, if not the most distinguishable band on throwback metal stronghold label Shadow Kingdom, Houston’s Venomous Maximus made inroads via 2015’s Firewalker. A collection of sludge-on-traditional metal, Firewalker created separation largely because of vocalist Gregg Higgins. Far from your regular sludge in-key mumbler or trad-metal heaver, Higgins’ unique vocal inflections (think a Goth dude who realized he could sing and joined a metal band) is really what makes Venomous Maximus stand out. As such, it’s with little surprise the formula is repeated on No Warning.
The songs this ‘go-round don’t have much of a classic metal sheen, with the Texans going a more straightforward route. Of course, that doesn’t account for obvious album highlight “Spellbound,” a near dance-like rocker mainly because of the shuffle beat drummer Bongo puts on the song. It’s perhaps the most “alternative”-sounding song Venomous Maximus have popped out and it’s a highly effective one thanks to Higgins’ vocal layers and quasi-Goth riffing. The band’s dark side gets a go on “Pray for Me,” which serves up some choice melodic riffing, while “All of My Dreams” and “Endless” are excellent acoustic-driven, folk rock detours.
But as noted, Venomous Maximus largely hinges upon the voice of Higgins. Aside from the aforementioned “Spellbound” and “Pray for Me,” he’s on point during the near-ten minute “Sea of Sleep,” a song that reins in a bout of climatic guitar solos and crescendos.
A largely clever album with (just-as) clever songwriting, No Warning matches Firewalker, if not slightly surpasses it. Venomous Maximus had already arrived via Firewalker. With No Warning, they prove they’re hanging around for a while.
