A New Beginning

I stumbled upon Meridian Zero through one of my favorite music channels on YT, publishing music from widely unknown bands from the power/prog genre. These lads hail from Tenerife/Spain and have been making music together since 2001 with a six years break in between. In 2005 they have released their only full length so far, and now they have kind of a comeback with a nicely wrapped up EP titled “A New Beginning”. I am not familiar with their older material, but if this EP is something to go by there is a lot of talent involved. Over 27 minutes and five tracks Meridian Zero show a lot of promise and offer one of the big surprises for me personally in 2020 when it comes to music.

Deeply rooted in power metal and traditional metal in general they take some of the best elements that made several other bands famous a few decades ago and enhance them by some prog tendencies. The rhythm and the lead guitars are perfectly harmonized, offering a perfect blend of straight rocking grooves and some cleverly placed melodic elements. Of course there are soloing parts to be found as well, but those are never overdone, hurting the flow of the music. Overall the music is pretty easy on the ear, while still offering an impressive level of skills.

The two guitarists are building a dynamic team with their playing being perfectly attuned to each other. The lead harmonies range from being uplifting and lofty to some darker and often melancholic moments. It is impressive how those chords and trademark melodies are creating a certain mood in the listener’s head. Keyboards are not needed in that case, keeping things as true as possible. The music is catchy without ever crossing the border to cheesiness, with the band flexing the muscles and make sure that fans of real metal will not be disappointed. The drumming by Julian is also rock solid and on point, with him throwing in some nice fills and pattern changes to keep things fresh over the whole playing time.

With their singer Juan Meridian Zero have got a real talent among their ranks. This guy can soar like some of the genre’s finest. Of course all this technical prowess would not be of any use if the songs were not that good, but the biggest asset of the band is their ability to craft really nicely flowing tracks. Take e.g. “Lady Dark”, offering a nice and groovy rhythm and an absolute banger of a chorus. One of the best songs I have heard all year, I am not lying here. The lyrics are surprisingly deep, covering the topic of euthanasia.

The production is very professional, with the guitars sounding crunchy and the drums having a nice punch without coming across as being too synthetic. Each instrument has got its place in the mix and the overall sound is dynamic and powerful. Purists might argue that it is a bit modern, but in my opinion this is exactly how this kind of music has to sound. “A New Beginning” is one of the biggest gems you will find in 2020, so do not sleep on it. I for one have the plan to check out their prior album as well and look forward to hearing more from this band in the future. They clearly deserve more attention.