Album Review: …of Shades and Colours by Meteora (H-Music)

Hungarian symphonic metal band Meteora announce their third full-length album ’…of Shades and Colours’, set for release on the 2nd of September via H-Music.

Meteora started out in 2010 playing covers of symphonic and gothic metal songs in the clubs of Budapest. The band’s current line-up has been settled and together since the release of their debut album, Our Paradise back in 2017.  In 2019 the band signed to Hungarian record label Nail Records (later renamed H-Music), and had their second CD released in March 2020 with that month’s issue of Hammerworld magazine. As the global pandemic of COVID-19 made it impossible to play live music, they spent the time composing songs for their third record ’…of Shades and Colours’ set to release on the 2nd of September, 2022.

Speaking about …of Shades and Colours, Meteora state:

We proudly announce our third studio album ’…of Shades and Colours’, being released early September this year! Featuring 13 tracks in total, including three orchestral intro songs, this album is our most ambitious record so far. Showcasing all the colours of the band we invite our listeners to a journey through power, gothic and death metal all wrapped in heavy orchestration. We expanded on the three vocal setup that we started on ’Tragedy of Delusion’, with Noémi being the heart and soul of the music, accompanied by the beastly growls of Máté, and powerful vocals of Atilla. As always the music incorporates grand choirs, delivered this time by KVVKamarakórus, led by the phenomenal Viktor Magyaróvári, and with whom you may be familiar from our re-released version of ’Our Paradise’. We had the pleasure to have Chris Harms from Lord of the Lost as a guest vocalist for the song ’Danse Macabre’, and our old friend Ádám Kurucz playing the guitar solos on the album. As always the artwork of the album was made by our long time graphic designer, István Lajcsák.

Meteora are Noémi Holló on vocals, Máté Fülöp on bass and vocals, Atilla Király on vocals, keys and song writing, Csaba Solymosi on guitars and Gábor Kása on drums.

So, with 13 tracks of big symphonic sounds to get stuck into, I’m excited to get going and we head off on our journey with the introduction track titled Downfall. It’s a brief, pure symphonic piece with plenty of depth and power that creates excitement as we jump into Wings of Rebellion. If you know the genre, you know what to expect and Meteora live up to expectations. A punchy riff and catchy drum beat backed nicely by symphonic sounds. The female vocals are clean and powerful. Sections of rough, growled vocals contrast nicely with the cleaner tones. A third vocalist, male cleans adds another layer to an already multi layered track. The three vocalists together sound awesome and when you chuck in the soaring lead guitar melodies and chunky bass rhythm, it’s a great start. Has a bit of a Leaves’ Eyes feel to it, in a good way.

Danse Macabre is one of the lead singles, featuring even more vocals from Chris Harms (Lord of the Lost). It’s a more intense, more aggressive number with ominous keys backing an aggressive start packed with chunky riffing, punchy drums and gruff vocals. As expected of the genre, there is a lot of transitions with different vocalists taking over and different vocalist combinations harmonising. The lead guitars are good and the overall tone of the song is a little creepy and dark. It’s got a banging solo too.

Slave of Creation and Voices Within follow. The former being an energetic number you can let loose to with wicked guitars and drums. The symphonic side is gently used at the start allowing the guitars to shine and only accenting certain sections. The back and forth between vocalists is pretty special. Something prominent across the whole of …of Shades and Colours. Additional choir vocals add even ore grandiosity to the stunning track. Voices Within leans much more heavily on the symphony with an orchestral intro that is gorgeous before thick, chunky guitars and drums jump in with the catchiest segment of music so far. The haunting vocals are effective and the solo is really strong too.

Newborn Violence brings back that sinister keyboard melody. It combines nicely with the drums and guitars. Again the song is very layered with plenty of classical instruments adding layers and depth. The back and forth between the clean vocals and heavy ones is great but it is the song’s composition that makes this one such a winner. They way the keys jump in just for an occasional blast of melody, the drum patterns, the guitars that drop back, then jump forward. It’s very well put together and thought out. It leads us into Awaking – an intermission with a 90 seconds long symphonic piece. It leads nicely into Pests – Tragedy of Delusion pt. II. One of my favourite tracks.

I love the dark feel the track has and the wavy clean vocals combined with the chunky riffs and bookended with harsh vocals is excellent. The additional choir sections are huge and the orchestral melodies that grow as the song progresses are madly effective. I love the horns section, that with the bassy riff is a sound that could revitalise corpses. The Children of Bodom like keyboard section is excellent before the magical sudden addition of a single chord from Beethoven’s Für Elise. This song is next level and the best of a good bunch on …of Shades and Colours so far.

Given the unenviable task of following Pests up is Home, a beautiful and melancholic piece. Think acoustic guitars, gentle clean vocals and plenty of strings and delicacy from the symphonic backing. It is followed by the 8 minute long epic, Waking Nightmare. Waking Nightmare jumps back to the more familiar back and forth with a mix of vocals and plenty of heavy riffs and drum blasts. It has a theatrical feel, especially from the back and forth between vocalists, as it twists and meanders along hypnotically.

We approach the end now starting with Trail to Eden, a third short instrumental piece to open up this final chapter. This leads seamlessly into the track Immortal which oozes majesty and grandiosity in it’s intro before a roar lead sus into a mosh pit worthy section. I love it, and love how Meteora still drop surprises on us this late into an album. I really enjoy the energy to this track, the choirs, the keyboard melody, the phenomenal solo and of course the plentiful heavy sections. And so we reach the final track and of course it is an 11 minute long mammoth track. It is also the title track, …of Shades and Colours.

What can I say? A symphonic band, full of talent, offer up an epic as an ending to an album, of course it is going to be huge, grand, twisting and patient. It is. The gentle intro gives way to a visceral section with huge and dark riffs and lead guitars. The contrast to the delicate intro is a wonderful thing. We go on a journey here through many different phases, clean sections, heavy headbanging instrumental sections. We get quick drums, chunky riffs and thick backing from the symphony. And we also get a couple stunning screaming solos, a choir section that will have the hairs on your arms standing to attention, a drop down to keys and clean singing. It is stereotypical of the genre, but it’s damn good.

Meteora are a hugely talented band, showcasing some of the most amazing song compositions you will hear in this genre. They manage to take you on that all important journey, where you can be lost in the songs and lose time. There is a lot on offer, and a lot of variety making the lengthy album feel like it has passed in a few short minutes. It is soften stereotypical of the genre, offering only a few moments of uniqueness. One such being the three vocalists and the way they are used and combined. That is special. Despite being stereotypical, not everything needs to break new ground. Sometimes it just needs to be a good representation of a genre. …of Shades and Colours is that and more.

Meteora have delivered a phenomenal symphonic metal album that deserves to be heard and praised. Be sure to grab your copy on release day, the 2nd of September.

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