Merit Maker – Breaking Edge

It’s been a while since I heard anything about this band. I had a chance to review their second release about two years ago, and I remember how surprised I was with their sound. In the meantime, Merit Maker has recorded one full-length and EP release, so currently, the band has two full-lengths and two extended play recordings. I have to admit that’s quite impressive, considering not so many bands could manage this because of the situation with the Covid pandemic. One of the beforementioned EPs represents their latest recordings, and I would like to talk about it a little bit more today.

Breaking Edge carries five energetic compositions that break all the stylistic barriers. Merit Maker likes to experiment with various subgenres of extreme music in order to achieve the desired sound. Perhaps their sound levitates between hardcore and nineties skatepunk, but you can hear melodic hardcore, post-hardcore, melodic punk rock, and pop-punk. These experimentations with complementary subgenres of punk rock unquestionably resonate uniquely. It seems that the band prefers the nineties era over contemporary sound, and you’ll hear these guys were heavily inspired by the bands who released their records on Epitaph, Fat Wreck, and Nitro Records.

You’ll notice similarities with bands such as 98 Mute, Model American, Straight Faced, Pennywise, and RKL, but Merit Maker involve more genres in their music than the beforementioned bands. Therefore, their music sounds fresh and unique. Soundwise, Merit Maker went through many changes from their debut full-length release till now. Compared to the older recordings, Breaking Edge possesses much better production, excellent ideas, better riffs, a stable rhythm section, and the vocals are perfect. The band thought about song structures, arrangements, accentuations, melodies, harmonies, solos, and other sonic delicacies. It’s a step further, and if you thought their older releases sounded great, wait until you hear this one. Breaking Edge is available for listening on all streaming platforms.