From the brand new stables of an American/ Finnish/ Belgian collaboration, Meridian Dawn, comes a powder keg of extremely explosive substances. The Mixtape EP makes no fusses as it goes about dealing drum- related brutality courtesy Johan Nunez (Firewind, Ex- Nightrage, Suicide of Demons) with oh- so- sweet sounding guitar- work by Brandon Johnson and Christopher Jon (Before the Mourning, ex- White Wizzard, ex- Remembering Never). Also the vocals, done by Antony Hämäläinen, are quite distinctive.
I especially love the way the second guitar has been treated, insofar as that it gives of a feeling of being there but not really there, watching over the entire mix, and as far as I can tell, giving off the Modern Metal sound that lends this EP its distinctive characteristic.
The EP starts out with “Thieves”, a track which you will most remember for its extremely effective and melodic legato lead guitar. “Thieves” is followed by “Fever Syndrome”, the intro for which is a perfect example of the drum- related aggression contained within all the songs.
The EP also contains 2 covers, these being “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” by Type O- Negative, and “Descent” from Fear Factory. The covers do not deviate in any way from the originals, but they do sound tighter and more polished. A highlight of the covers is Antony Hämäläinen’s clean vocals, which are on display in earnest for the first time in the EP and show great depth.
Overall, the EP is put together really well, and the contrasting styles within it do not sound forced or manufactured in any way. A nice mix of Modern Metal sound with Melodic Death Metal music.
8/10 Reviewed By: Sanjeev Kalra P.S: Check out the band on Facebook. The Mixtape EP can be bought on Bandcamp and iTunes.
