Short Reviews [ Meadows - 2020 - "Modern Emotions"]

Towards the end of 2020 the debut album was released by Meadows, a new project formed by Silhouette guitarist Daniel van der Weijde a.k.a. Daniel Meadows, together with band members from Silhouette, Incidense and ex-Coppersky; Jurjen Bergsma, Peter Meijer, Rob van Nieuwenhuijzen & Jeffrey van Driest, although only Jurjen (bass) and Peter (vocals) play with Daniel (guitars, drum programming) on this. Ruud Jolie from the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, and Richard Henshall from the UK based progressive metal master Haken also provide a guitar solo each on different tracks. The result is an album which is incredibly laid-back, yet also with stacks of guitars and plenty of layers within it. Actually, it is the complexity and the layers which causes some of the issues for me in that there is just not enough space and there are times when everything comes together in a manner which is just too claustrophobic and cloying. It would have been better of at times we had just had a few less guitars and more contrast as while this is a very enjoyable album indeed, there is the feeling that it could have been even better with more dynamics. In that respect this does feel more like a project than a band, and while I found it a pleasant listen it is was rarely very much more than that. For those who want crossover-style prog which is fairly mainstream and never challenging in the slightest.