Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2025 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
CELEBRATING 18 YEARS!
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
May 2025
- Giant: Stand And Deliver
- Sign Of The Wolf: Sign Of The Wolf
- Harem Scarem: Chasing Euphoria
- Cosmic Cathedral: Deep Water
- Beholder: In the Temple of the Tyrant
- Art Nation: The Ascendance
- Laurenne/Louhimo: Falling Through Stars
- Rock Out: Let's Call It Rock N Roll
- The Flower Kings: Love
- Maestrick : Espresso Della Vita: Lunare
March 2025
- W.E.T.: Apex
- Alliance: Before Our Eyes
- Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
- Phil X & The Drills:
Pow! Right In The Kisser - IQ: Dominion
- Heart Line: Falling Heaven
- Gotthard: Stereo Crush
- Defender: Dying To Live
- Streetlight: Night Vision
February 2025
- Robin McAuley: Soulbound
- Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
- Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
- Mantric Momentum: Alienized
- Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
- Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
- Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
- Dream Theater: Parasomnia
- Tyran: Tyran's Oath
- Saber: Lost In Flames
January 2025
- Wildness: Avenger
- The Ferrymen: Iron Will
- Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
- Bonfire: Higher Ground
- The Big Deal: Electrified
- Landfall: Wide Open Sky
December 2024
- After Lapse: Pathways
- Illusion Force: Halfana
- Powell-Payne: Voilá
Maverick: Cold Star Dancer
Maverick: Cold Star Dancer
Melodic Heavy Metal
4.0/5.0
Facebook
Metalapolis Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 21.03.2018
Formed some six years ago in Belfast by brothers Ryan (g) and David (v) Balfour, Maverick have already dropped two albums, 2014's Quid Pro Quo and 2016's Big Red. On the strength of the latter album, the band would tour with Swedish hard rock legends Treat in 2017. Now Maverick returns with their third long player Cold Star Dancer for Metalapolis Records.
Maverick
Once more we find Maverick developing their hybrid mixture of heavy metal and melodic hard rock, though I think this time around it leans more to the former. Most every song is built around sharp riffage, blistering solos, and a thick and thundering rhythm section. Yet these are tempered with Maverick's keen ability to inject melody, harmony, and groove into every arrangement, which gives their melodic heavy metal some sense of AOR accessibility.
You'll hear that latter quality clearly within Goodbye and Seize The Day, two of the best songs on the album. Heavy and faster songs come with Viper and Myrmidon; more heavy and steady songs with Ex Machina and Magellan Rise, both of which display that thick bottom end. For a bonus track, Maverick covers the Rick Springfield hit, Jessie's Girl. As you would expect from the rest of the album, it's turned into riff rousing heavy metal, yet without losing the song's catchy groove. All in all, with Cold Star Dancer Maverick delivers another roaring album heavy metal tempered by melodic hard rock accessibility and groove. Recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
The Bottom Line
With Cold Star Dancer, Maverick delivers another roaring album of heavy metal tempered by melodic hard rock accessibility and groove. Recommended.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
Three decades on and still going strong is the iconic progressive rock band, The Flower Kings, founded by veteran multi-instrumentalist and composer Roine Stolt. Since 1994, The Flower Kings have been known ... [ Read More ]