Review: Agenda – Maverick

The name of this German hardrock/metal band indeed is Agenda. In case you were looking for our Metal Agenda with metal concerts, you can go here. Now, back to the band Agenda and before I start about their new EP, titled Maverick, I’ll first go a bit more back in time. That’s because of something I read in the press-sheet that was attached to Maverick, which was that Maverick‘s predecessor, Agenda’s full-length debut titled Genetic Arts, is thrash metal. A few things that stood out while listening to Genetic Arts were the humming bass-sound, the guitar-solos, the deep sound of the drums and the vocals, which to me didn’t always sound very powerful and fitting, such as in Parliament of Possession. In the contrary of that some other things stood out in Fields of Paradise, this album’s ballad, which were the a bit more present bluesy vibe and the fact that the vocals sounded more powerful and fitting to me in this track.

Why I am mentioning this? That’s because Maverick isn’t thrash metal at all. It’s much more towards the sound of Genetic Arts‘ ballad Fields of Paradise. The vocals on Maverick are much better, but whether that would also be the case with Pedro Cardoso, who could be heard on Genetic Arts, is something we are not going to know, since he’s replaced by Özgün “Özzy” Yalcin. Someone else who is replaced within Agenda’s line-up, compared to the line-up that could be heard on Genetic Arts, is drummer Stefan Hampel. He’s replaced by Dennis “Arndi” Arndt. In addition to them, Agenda’s line-up consists of bass player Daniel Wessolowsky and guitarists Stefan Matschke and Denis Becker.

Let’s begin with coming back on those vocals. Özgün “Özzy” Yalcin’s clean vocals have a nice raw touch which gives a bit of a crunchy effect to the hardrock Agenda delivers on Maverick, while also hitting some old school high notes in the opening title-track. His vocals also stand out quite well in the ballad of this EP, the track in the middle titled It’s All ’bout Love. This track isn’t only calmer, of course it is, it’s a ballad, but also acoustic. Özgün “Özzy” Yalcin’s vocals sound like they contain a bit more emotion in this track, especially before his vocals are getting higher, while still having that same nice raw touch.

That other line-up change, that of the drummer position, didn’t have an influence on the deep sound of the drums. That still can be heard on Maverick, such as in the title-track, especially during the very nicely incoming drums, as well as guitars, after the calmer part halfway this track, to then become a bit more energetic again.

That calmer part during the title-track contains, just as the intro’s of Crucified and Gone and Suffering of War, something else that stands out on this EP which could also be heard on Genetic Arts, which is the humming sound of the bass. In the aforementioned moments that’s in the form of nice bass riffs, while this humming bass also stands out on the rest of Maverick in other ways. It, for example, contributes nicely to the, generally a bit more humming, but still quite melodic, closing track Suffering of War, and sounds very funky, just as the guitar, on Whiskey On Ice, which contains a nice party-vibe that’ll probably work out perfect while being played live.

I can’t end this review without mentioning the nice and rich sound of the guitars on Maverick, with each song, except ballad It’s All ’bout Love, including a nicely roaring solo.

You won’t find Agenda’s thrash metal on Maverick, but you’ll find their hardrock there. With Maverick Agenda doesn’t bring anything really special or new, but they do deliver a fine hardrock-EP with it.

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