Given the watered down and over commercialised nature of heavy rock these days, you generally have to look towards Europe in order to find the types of acts that don’t pander to the industry norms, who more often than not come up with some really interesting sounds. One of the more interesting and different sounding acts starting to make a ripple in the underground scene is Norwegian act Max Midsun.

Founded in 2004, the four piece act (comprising of vocalist Kim Tungvåg, guitarist/backing vocalist Rune Stavnesli, guitarist Yngve Kvalø, bassist/backing vocalist Isaac Khan and drummer Daniel Elide) have been keeping themselves busy touring throughout Europe in support of their 2006 debut album Max The 1st. Without wasting any time, the four-piece group have returned to the studio for their follow-up release Max Factor, and the result is every bit as interesting and unique as their first outing.

“A Perfect Day” is a great opening number that has some interesting contrasts. While the guitarists are in the foreground rocking things up with heavy riffs and big shouting back-up vocals, Tungvåg is up the front giving a towering performance that drifts between swing music and crooning. Thankfully, “The Greatest Horse In History” (the first promotional video clip filmed for the album) shows a little more cohesion in the song writing with all the band members rocking in a heavy unison, while the mid-paced “Goldmine,” the title track “Max Power” and “St. Bill” are as every bit as heavy, innovative and pounded out in an equally impressive fashion.

On both “Fire Walk With Me” and “Fetish Pride,” the band tempers their aggression to make for some slower tempos (while still incorporating some weighty riffs). Unfortunately, not everything on the album works. The pseudo-thrash attack of “Alarm” is marred by Tungvåg’s lightweight melodic vocals while the two experimental pieces “Masterpiece” and the chaotic “The Suffering” seem a little incomplete in the song writing sense.

Max Midsun’s sophomore effort might be a little shy of a masterpiece, but there are plenty of strong songs and great ideas to keep the album interesting throughout. If the band can keep their faith, I’m sure Max Midsun will truly deliver something really special on their third full-length release.

www.myspace.com/maxmidsun