I discovered Meadows End a few years ago during one of my mass downloads of metal music, specifically their 2014 album, The Sufferwell . It goes without saying that I liked their shit, and checked their older album and got that as well and was pleased. The music being played here is melodic/symphonic death metal, extremely well done and very atmospheric and excellent melodies, guitar work and chorus/instrumental overlays. Good shit.

I like when a band gets better with every new offering, some bands after their second album drop off and feel as if they need to try something new and blow that shit up, producing a shitty offering that tries to re-invent or evolve their sound for no reason for no one. I am glad with Meadows End this is not the case as they pretty much sound like a much more refined version of themselves from their past album, with almost no crappy or boring tracks, all 13 songs seamlessly flow together and form an excellent cohesive melodic symphonic death metal experience. Just excellent.

However, because everything blends so well, it’s hard to single out a track above the rest. Maybe it’s because I’ve only listened to the album a few times and I haven’t caught on which parts/songs are my favorite but it’s hard to tell. One thing that they have greatly improved is their song structure, or rather, the order of their tracks in their album. Their past two offerings had the first song kind of long moving and slow; taking some time before the ball gets rolling with speed and technical skill, this item however, their opening track “Amidst The Villains” waits for nothing and within the first few seconds begins a badass galloping riff sequence that escalates in complexity and lasts for almost an entire 50 seconds before even death growls and other vocals begin. Well, seeing as I noticed that, I suppose the first track is one of the better ones. Soulstain and Deadlands are also great, mainly because their opening riff sequence is fast, heavy and immediate, no waiting to get shit going. Excellent piano and instrumental sequences in those ones as well.

One thing that I wished that they improved on however is their cover art. Fuck, what is this shit? Black and white illustration of some dude and a demon beast pet. If you look closely, the dude has a katana. Shit. What is this? Highlander or last samurai fighting demons? Well, all of Meadows End End’s album art have been mixed, with their first being the WORST shit ever. Their second album was probably the best and most badass with this one probably ranking somewhere between the two. Like, I’m not swede or whatever but what the hell is Sojourn? Lagom I guess. Shit.

Overall this is an excellent album.  I expected great things from this band and they delivered. I hope they continue to make more shit since from what I read, these guys are independent, they aren’t even signed with a record label so i’m sure they are in need of some cash or whatever. Keep on keeping on swede dudes.

Score: 9