Everywhere you look, something in the world has gone to flame. British band Maruja realizes the issues with the world, starting their album Pain to Power with a cynical viewpoint: “Human nature’s venomous, that’s something that I’m gifted.” Lead singer Harry Wilkinson’s thick Mancunian accent spits out these lyrics alongside quick, heavy drums and a thumping bass, and the album seems like a paranoid critique of society. Despite the constant crises striking the world, however, Maruja takes an ultimately optimistic perspective on society, with the belief that the goodness of human nature will prevail.
Maruja, originating in Manchester, has been in existence for over a decade. The band released several EPs that the bandmates later disavowed in 2020, citing a change in sound. However, even the singles released thereafter don’t fully capture how they developed to create Pain to Power. Maruja’s earlier music focuses on instrumentals and seems to show more than anything how cool a saxophone can sound while the rest of the instruments of a typical rock band play distraught music in the background.
Over time, the band has grown to take on a sound that thrives on the balance of beauty and chaos in instrumentals. Maruja’s music typically evolves throughout the song, with many songs changing to different sections, characteristic of progressive rock. Pain to Power features three songs that run for longer than nine minutes, but never sounds overly long. There’s always something to keep the ears entertained.
One of the album’s most striking features is its heaviness. Bassist Matt Buonoccarsi takes the spotlight at times, creating an intense atmosphere. This cranked-up, dirty bass sounds almost overpowering at times, and it reverberates in a background of pounding drums. Maruja has figured out how to master chaos, and it permeates the album.
Through this chaos, Maruja finds beauty. They do this incredibly well on “Look Down On Us,” one of the album’s longest songs. After Wilkinson rambles on for two minutes, a saxophone takes over. The saxophone plays on while the bass and drums shrink in favor of a string section.
Saxophone doesn’t typically feature in progressive rock bands, but the saxophone sets Maruja’s music apart. Joe Carroll’s phenomenal skill on the saxophone shows through the entire album, and the saxophone accompanies all of the album’s climaxes. Maruja uses the saxophone as the lead instrument most of the time, and everything else takes a backseat when the saxophone enters.
This jazzier section completely changes “Look Down On Us” from a dooming protest to a message of hope. The song returns to the wave of protest from the start before fading out in a wall of uneasy strings while the saxophone slows down.
“Look Down On Us” protests against the oligarchs who look down on the rest of humanity while perpetrating conflicts across the world in the name of money. Wilkinson counters his own pessimism about the world with optimism when looking inside himself. He mentions the album’s title while advising listeners to “turn pain to power, faith to love/Be firm and loyal, in yourself put trust.”
The album reflects on themes that touch on how modern society has wiped out individuality and how we can stay positive in challenging times. While its overly political themes seem isolating at times, Maruja celebrates individuality and the band’s hope for a future in which people will help each other shine above the themes of doom and despair. The album finishes with an optimistic mantra repeated over and over: “Pray for love.”
Despite the impressive scope and message of the lyrics, it’s still hard to fully ignore the thick accent that smothers the vocals. Wilkinson isn’t a great singer, and he sounds like Zach de la Rocha or Serj Tankian while singing. While he suits the album’s chaotic, messy elements well, he isn’t as pleasing to listen to as any of the instrumentals on the album.
In most cases, the vocal talent is easy to ignore in favor of the album’s lyrics and unleashed instrumentals. Maruja plays out their core themes very well, and the optimistic messaging takes away from what could’ve been a sour taste left in the mouth. Instead, Pain to Power stands as an impressive work of progressive rock in a decaying world.
