Meadows: Modern Emotions

Here is a review I have been meaning to get to for a while now. As reviewers, sometimes the music piles up and life can get in the way. Yes, I am guilty, and my full-fledged apologies to Freya Records, now called Freia Music.

The band is Meadows, coming all the way from The Netherlands. The band was formed by Silhouette guitarist Daniël van der Weijde - aka Daniël Meadows (guitars, synths, drum programming, mixing, mastering) and includes:

Jurjen Bergsma (Silhouette) (bass guitar)
Peter Meijer (vocals and lyrics)
Guests:
Erik Laan (Silhouette) - additional piano on “Dance With The Corpse Bride� and “The Brave�
Sophie Zaaijer (Silhouette) - violin on “Dance With The Corpse Bride�, “Rebecca�, and “The Brave�
Ruud Jolie - guitar solo on “Good Times�
Richard Henshall (Haken) - guitar solo on “The Brave�

This is their debut album titled Modern Emotions, released November 2020.

The band plays moody progressive metal driven by the impressive guitar work from Meadows. The disc begins with �Dance With The Corpse Bride�, as lovely arpeggiated guitar lines and strings create a layered effect, very melodic, before turning into a wall of distorted sound, as the music gets much heavier. Meadows’ virtuosic guitar is quite tasty. The title track is a chugging rocker that transitions between heavy and soft making for some nice dramatic shifts. On “Nostalgia� a sweet guitar arpeggio and tender lead vocals have an aura of melancholia and the backing vocals in the chorus are very nice. Really melodic and heartfelt. Soon the guitar develops more bite venturing into neoclassical soloing. It’s all very clean and melodic with nice transitions between the softer sections. “Rebecca� begins with a lone solo guitar riff and builds from there into tasty guitar driven rock. Meadow’s six string prowess is on full display and yet he never loses touch with his sense of melody. �Powerture� is a robust heavy rocker followed by the lovely “Good Times� featuring a melodic arpeggio and scintillating lead guitar.

Modern Emotions is an excellent guitar driven slice of melodic prog/metal. If I were to offer one suggestion it would be to get a real drummer as the programmed drums lack the necessary punch to match Meadows’ guitar work. I believe there is a new album which I am eager to hear. Recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Dance With The Corpse Bride (3:44)
2. Modern Emotions (6:48)
3. Nostalgia (4:12)
4. Rebecca (5:23)
5. Powerture (3:31)
6. Good Times (5:48)
7. The Void (1:18)
8. The Brave (7:15)

Added: March 25th 2023
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 649
Language: english

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