2006, self-released
 

4 out of 5

After teasing fans for a year with only their debut five song EP, the popular East Bay band Maxwell Adams returned with a proper full length record, containing both live favorites and new songs.

The several months spent in the studio have paid off. On the whole, the songs are more developed than those making up The Band Not the Man EP. The arrangements are smoother, the guitar work more complex and technical and with a more mature sense of interplay. The repitition of verses and choruses that bogged down singer Kevin Gautschi's previous band Growth of Alliance has been eliminated in favor of smooth transitions and logical buildups in the songs.

The band's riffs hit like a ton of bricks, often brilliant in their simplicity, but given impact by the relentless slam of the rhythm section. The timing is tigher, and the airtight production gives the band a polish that their members' previous projects either lacked or abused. In other words this record sounds awesome.

Intellectual Hunger Strike broadens the band's sound, sometimes heavier (Microphone, Shady Predictions) and sometimes more accessable than their first release. Despite the band's metal roots, they aren't afraid to use a good pop hook when they have it (Painful Memories, Few and Far Between). Drawing influence in equal parts from the Foo Fighters and Candiria, they mix melodic singing with screams, but Gautschi's distinctive vocals and the tasteful use of screams help Maxwell Adams avoid the cliches so many newer alt-metal bands fall victim to.

Standout tracks: Microphone, Tunnel Vision, Never Change
Best moment: "..truth is in your eyes, I see; truth is in the air so BREEEATHE!"