Meleeh • Heartland
‘Heartland’ is the first release from Swedish band Meleeh since they formed back in 2004. What they bring to the table is passionate, heavy and dynamitic hardcore influenced music, which has an aggressive edge.
The tracks that are presented have intense rhythms, which are the basis for much of the songs. You see, the music is the main element and puts emphasis on the tracks due to this. It is the elements such as the intense guitars of ‘Malign’ and ‘Where Demons Hunt’ with a heavy beat that make the tracks stand out and quite enjoyable. Nothing is more notable in this regard than the instrumental that is ‘Love Is Dead’ where guitars add a rhythm while drums add a beat. On occasions you get the odd track such as ‘The Doom’ where atmospheric emotions are expressed through the music. Sadness and melancholy are riddled through this number for example.
The down point, and what could be considered the most integral part when writing, playing, creating and producing an album is the vocals. Fair enough that the band has roots in the more aggressive nature of music, but the fact that the vocals are so antagonistic and destructive makes me wonder what in the world they are singing about. I’m guessing anger, upset and maybe falling of the wagon in more ways than one. For the majority of the album, screams spread across the music like wildflower. The vocals are so intense that the words to which the music is playing along to are inaudible and not understandable, well at least to the human ear; maybe some of the more feline creatures on our fair planet will have more luck in understanding what each track is all about. To actually enjoy a track and relate to what the singer is singing about, you need to appreciate the lyrics and these cannot be heard through the vocals. The only track, and I use this term lightly, that is even bearable to listen to in regards to the vocals is ‘Malign’ since the words are a little easier on the ear and more comprehensible to the mind. Of course the instrumental track was a sigh of relief to my ears.
What ever it was that made a band of talented and creative musicians decide to produce an album with such terrific sounds but dreadful vocals is beyond me.