4th August 2025

Review: “In This Silence” by Meteora

The past fifteen years have seen Budapest Hungary natives Meteora bloom into Symphonic Metal masters over three full length albums and an EP. Their last record, 2023’s “…of Shades and Colours” was nothing short of majestic, the icing on the metaphorical cake being a guest vocal appearance from Chris Harms of Lord Of The Lost fame. In 2024 they were joined by guitarist Dániel Schreiber and new record “In This Silence” marks their first set of cryptic writings with him after Solymosi Csaba exited stage left. An affair mixed by Nino Helfrich (Thrash Cult, Traces Of A Life) and former Jinjer drummer Dmitry Kim (Khors, Arhat) with mastering by Joel Wanasek (Machine Head, Carnation, Dååth) and Helfrich, its adorned by artwork from Dronicon Films (Swallow The Sun, Katatonia, October Tide).

Part of what makes the dynamic of Meteora work is the fact that the six piece have three people contributing vocal parts, vocalist Noémi Holló, bassist Máté Fülöp and keyboard player Atilla Király. Harmonies from all three intertwine to spellbinding effect on opening cut and title track “In this Silence“, the death growls from Fülöp cutting against the cleans of the others nicely. There is a little accenting in the diction from Holló which gives her beautiful clean vocals in English a certain charm, the lyrics representing a call for resistance as the storms of war approach. Sonically the orchestrations are suitably cinematic which gives the track the epic feel that Meteora are known for but what works well in this is that its not over done. There are breaks during which the driving rhythm guitars and thunderous percussion get the opportunity to be heard above all else, giving it a powerful edge. An electric energy runs through “Rebirth” the track having the pomp and circumstance of a Rock Opera as well as the gut punch of pure Metal as vocal layering is put to good use. A solo in the final third is a nice touch without getting too virtuoso and flamboyant, a few fleeting moments of blast beats almost eyebrow raising when they come around.

The extremes push out with “Free“, a track steeped in Euro Metal glory propelled into the stratosphere thanks to the harsh unclean vocals from Fülöp. You can almost picture this one being an entry in the Euro Vision song contest with the majestic keys and orchestrations, those bright clean yet achingly melancholic vocals from Holló absolutely stunning. Intertwining keyboard and guitar solos blow the mind, drawing the listener in with that extra layer of complexity. Haunting keys from Király combine with clean vocals from Holló to create the sombre first half of “Ghosts“, a melancholic burning offering that soars majestically in the second half as the guitars and drums come into play. An uplifting guitar solo is perfectly weighted to ensure the introspective lyrical narrative isn’t the only thing to touch your soul and is very well done. As a first instalment to what promises to be a trilogy of EPs, this one certainly sets the scene [7.5/10]

Track Listing