Meh, I actually really enjoy the mace sound effects :P They have this satisfying bone-crunching feel to them. And hey, maces have sharp edges, so you can justify slicing noises too. The sparks? Many enemies in the game are armored or have hardened carapaces. As fun as it would be for some of us older players, the devs sure as hell can't give gory impact animations to weapons if they wanna keep their ESRB rating!
Maybe I'm just good at rationalizing 
Depends on the Mace you're using, but they do make sense. Remember the original mace (which is what the sound FX were chosen for) was a solid metal ball with spikes on it. You hear more of a ripping sound when those spikes would tear across your opponent (like with Bash), and more of a solid thud with attack like Jawbreaker or Clobber that wham directly into your opponent.
So the ripping isn't so great when you use us the solid Warhammer, but it's not that big a deal to me. Aesthetics, I know, but the big attacks all "thud" pretty nicely for you.
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I am partial to the war hammer so it's good to know about the big attacks and I can certainly imagine the ripping sound as more of a bone crunching. Thanks for the replies!
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat
Why does my War Mace sound like it is slicing through objects rather than pummeling them? Also, what's with the sparks? I can sort of see them with sword blades and knives/claws but a big blunt piece of metal should just go THUD and then maybe you see a few flying teeth.
Just my 2 inf...
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat