Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Rozsdagyar Release Information

The debut album of the Budapest symphonic/opera metal band Meteora was released on 18 June 2017. They received a lot of positive feedback, especially from foreign radio stations and magazines. The style itself is not very widespread in Hungary, i.e. there are very few similar bands in the country, unfortunately. Now let’s see how the band’s first album turned out, which contains ten English language tracks.

The first song is “Chained”, which starts with a beautiful epic intro, then the pounding comes which is accompanied by the grunting of Máté Fülöp. It’s hard to deny that the band used to be an Epica tribute, as this song is structurally and sonically reminiscent of that, but not in a bad way. Here the Epica influence is clearly constructive, because they did not want to copy the Dutch, they just wanted to play this music and write their own songs in this style.

Second in line is the already well known “After the Civil War”, as this song was already released as a lyric video in October 2016. Once again it alternates between pure female vocals and growls. These two extremes make the whole disc interesting by default and give the song itself momentum and pulse.

In contrast to the previous tracks, “Mind Sanctuary” starts with a much slower and more balladic keyboard and vocal duet, but before you know it, the tempo is increased, then the hardness and a metal riff comes in, which is even filled with rattles. Finally, the keyboard frames the song and the tempo drops back to the outro. “Scavengers of Vanity” was a more abstract composition for me. You could say that this became harder to take in compared to the others, but it’s by no means weak. It just takes me out of my comfort zone.

“Scarlet Moon” is a fast-paced, dragging symphonic metal song with piano. This will be a huge “hit” at a typical concert in my opinion, as you can rave and headbang to it. Everything I said in my previous sentence is also true for the next one, “Shout to Existence”, with the addition that the opening guitar riff is a heavy metal theme that I was starting to miss from the album, so it hit me at the right time.

I love songs that include or start with a piano standout. So “Aversum” is one of my favourites from the album because it starts with a beautiful piano vocal duet. And if you remember that at the beginning of the album we thought we were in for a ballad, now everyone can rejoice because here is the much anticipated slow song. One of the highlights of the album for me!

We are slowly coming to the end of the album, as we are coming to the eighth track, which the band released in 2014, but this is a revisited, reimagined version of “Heritage”. There were several of these on the album, by the way, that they had recorded in the past, but now they have been reimagined and put on the album. It's also a more upbeat metallic melodic composition than the penultimate “End of Eternity”. And the title track, “Our Paradise”, is following at the end. Here they add another shovelful and start the final movement with a mad doubling and momentum.

If I had to sum up Meteora’s debut, I would definitely give it a positive rating. This is a very good band, especially considering that I have known the band for years, from the tribute era, and they have had a few member changes since then, which has always raised the standard of the band. They have now reached a level of professionalism that I hope they can maintain and only go up from there. “Our Paradise” is a niche release in our country and I am sure it will compete with its foreign counterparts.

Felicium

This edition is a remastered reissue of the symphonic metal band’s debut album from 2017, featuring a special version of the title track “Our Paradise” with the guest Jonathan Pellet from Rage of Light

Line-up:

Noémi Holló: vocals
Csaba Solymosi: guitar
Atilla Király: keyboards
Máté Fülöp: bass guitar, backing vocals, grunts
Márió Krajczár: drums

Tracklist

1. Chained 5:08
2. After the Civil War 5:17
3. Mind Sanctuary 6:14
4. Scavengers of Vanity 5:47
5. Scarlet Moon 5:27
6. Shout to Existence 5:53
7. Aversum 3:57
8. Heritage 4:06
9. End of Eternity 4:26
10. Our Paradise 6:21
11. Our Paradise (2021) 6:21