Broken Mind by Meteora is one of those releases that makes you sit up straight about twenty seconds into the opening track and mutter “Well, fuck me” under your breath. On paper, it shouldn’t work. Epic Symphonic Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, bits of Prog, bits of Power, a sprinkle of whatever the hell else they felt like throwing in — that’s usually a recipe for disaster. That’s usually the point where I start reaching for the aspirin because I can already feel the impending headache of genre confusion. But here’s the kicker — Meteora make it work. Not just “barely hold it together” work, but fucking nail it work. Broken Mind isn’t just a mashup of styles; it’s a masterclass in how to make chaos sound coherent.
The first thing that hits you is the sheer scale of it. Everything is massive. The orchestration sounds like it was recorded in some ancient cathedral the size of a football field, the guitars are thick and cinematic, and the vocals — holy hell, the vocals — switch from clean, soaring melodies to feral roars like it’s the most natural thing in the world. This doen in no small.part to the way that vocalist Noémi Holló, bassist Máté Fülöp, and keyboardist Atilla Király gel so fucking perfectly together. It’s the kind of EP that doesn’t just fill the room, it fills the air, the walls, and possibly the neighbour’s house too.
The title and opening track, Broken Mind, is a statement piece. It’s grand and dramatic, sure, but it never tips into the kind of overblown theatrical nonsense that sinks a lot of symphonic metal. It’s emotional, not melodramatic — more Dimmu Borgir at their most focused than a bad Nightwish knockoff. Then Morningstar kicks in, and the band’s showcase even more of their extreme side — double kicks that hit like jackhammers, growls straight from the abyss, and guitar solos that somehow sound like they’re being fired from a fucking trebuchet.
But it’s In My Name that really got me. It’s just as epic as the previous three tracks, but it’s dripping with so much atmosphere, and packed with a tension that builds and builds until it finally explodes into this absolutely towering piece that feels like it could tear the sky open. It’s the kind of song that makes you close your eyes and just feel it.
And that’s the thing about Meteora — they’re not afraid to get emotional, but they never lose their edge in the process.
By the time it all wraps up, you’re left a little stunned. Broken Mind might only be four tracks long, but it packs more ideas, riffs, and emotion than most full-length albums manage in ten. It’s polished without feeling sterile, ambitious without being pretentious, and just plain exhilarating from start to finish.
Meteora have somehow managed to take about six different genres, shove them into a blender, and pour out something that tastes fucking incredible. Broken Mind is proof that when you’ve got the talent, the conviction, and the sheer balls to pull it off, you can make something truly special out of the madness.
Broken Minds by Meteora will be out October 17th via H-Music.
CHOICE CUT: In My Name
BLACK METAL ARCHIVES VERDICT: A glorious, genre-melting triumph — a four-track thunderstorm of orchestral grandeur, deathly fury, and blackened emotion that shouldn’t work but absolutely fucking does. This is how you do epic without ego, symphonic without schmaltz, and heavy without losing heart. It’s cinematic, it’s savage, it’s fucking huge.
PRESS SOURCE: Imperative PR.
