To The Max! – Two The Max
Release Date: 13th March 2026
Label: Go Down Records
Order/Stream
Genre: Action Rock, Heavy Rock.
FFO: The Hellacopters, Black Sabbath, KISS, The Hives.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Every now and then a band appears with a simple mission: plug in, crank the amps, and let rock’n’roll run wild. With their new album Two The Max!, the Verona trio deliver exactly that—ten tracks of swaggering, riff-driven action rock, punk attitude and just enough groove to keep you from sitting still for long – forty minutes in fact.
Right from the opening seconds of On ‘N’ On, the album wastes no time establishing its tone: punchy drums, snarling guitar and a raw vocal delivery that sits somewhere between garage rock grit and classic hard rock bravado. The track sets the blueprint for the album.
The band themselves describe second track Who as one of the album’s most punk-inspired pieces, shifting between energetic bursts and more dynamic sections. The production also giving a direct, unpolished energy that feels much closer to a sweaty club show.
Apple Bite and C’mon (Move It) lean harder into groove territory, with a hint of funk creeping into the rhythm section, whilst mid-album tracks Dying Inside and Sharp Breath inject darker tones into the mix. The guitars grind a little heavier here and vocals shift between rough-edged melody and a more snarling delivery.
Back to pedal to the floor rock ‘n’ roll and by the time Running and Sunday Nite arrive, the band sound completely locked in, with a driving rhythm section, chunky riffs and quick bursts of melodic lead. Closing numbers Enjoy The Ride and Cancel feel like a final adrenaline rush. The band doubling down on the album’s simple but effective ethos.
And it’s this ethos and the refusal to overcomplicate things that works both for and against Two The Max! By focusing solely on the fundamentals: riffs, groove and raw rock’n’roll spirit, the band creates a sound that feels familiar but perhaps overly so. Even within the confines of it’s relatively short run time there is more than one occasion where you experience a degree of musical déjà vu.
However, sometimes the greatest pleasure in music is simply returning to something that feels right, and this is an album designed to be played loud, preferably with the volume dial pushed a little further than necessary – in fact, to the max!
(3.5 / 5)
