Reviews

Review from http://www.metal-mayhem.co.uk (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 2005
Link to review: http://www.metal-mayhem.co.uk
Rating: 8/10

Finally Crash Music hits the mark.

As you might tell by the name, Searing Meadow are kind of an Amorphis/Dark Tranquility hybrid, although a little more on the melodic death side than usual. Add in a dash of Opeth, some early Metallica and Lillitu. Pretty cool stuff, a lot faster and more upbeat than one would assume. Strong production values really seal the deal. Singer could go, be he works decently for the material.

More impressive than I initially had suspected. Review by Ryan Bartek

Review from ULTIMATEMETAL.COM (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 2005
Link to review: http://ULTIMATEMETAL.COM
Rating: 8/10

Searing Meadow – Corroding From Inside
Crash Music – 61138 – March 8th, 2005
By Jason Jordan

It says here, on the handy promo sheet, that “Searing Meadow have picked up where Amorphis left off at Tales From the Thousand Lakes.” I agree wholeheartedly after giving Corroding From Inside a thorough listen. Usually, I debase doppelgangers because I feel that they don’t offer enough redeeming values to thwart the ones they’re copycatting. However, once in a great while, an identical twin emerges that crafts something both irrevocably presentable and endearing. Searing Meadow do indeed fit that bill.

This band differs from Amorphis insomuch that the former’s melodious nature is at the forefront. A clean guitar sound plays a significant role on Corroding From Inside, as does the muddiness of the distortion-laden, background passages. I wish Ikonen’s (vocals, guitars, keyboards) vox were more upfront, though his versatility is nice. Songs such as “All Obvious” and “These Evening Tears” both feature incredible breakdowns. Concerning the breakdown of the latter: is it a throwback to Megadeth’s “Peace Sells…”? I’ll let you decide on that one. Synthesizers play a pivotal role like “Three Names for Denial” and “Fading to Silhouette (Part II)” show us. It’s unfortunate that the presentation wasn’t brought up to scale with the music, because this Finnish quartet has more to offer than their packaging lets on.

[Insert connecting phrase here], I like these guys in spite of their penchant for laminating the Amorphis sound, and running with it. Corroding From Inside is basically melancholia splayed out in musical form, and it’s easy to identify with many of the themes present in the lyrics. Without a doubt, Searing Meadow are for those of you that get misty when you hear mid-90’s, Finnish death.

Review from SMOTHER.NET (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 03/2005
Link to review: http://www.smother.net

Searing Meadow - Corroding From the Inside

Melodic riff shredding peers its way through the murky underbelly of Searing Meadow to rear its ugly head and shake its fist at the world of melodic death metal. Hailing from Finland, Searing Meadow sears (excuse the undeniable pun) through a set of metal numbers from their debut on Crash Music. Their neighboring Sweden would be quite proud of “Corroding From the Inside” as it employs everything famous about Swedish metal with their own unique take on things. That uniqueness is straight and thorough progressive metal guitarwork that would make the prog-rockers blush with envy.

- J-Sin

Review from STEREOKILLER.COM (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 03/2005
Link to review: http://www.stereokiller.com
Overall Score: 92/100
Technicality: 93/100
Originality: 91/100
Vocals: 93/100

Another magnificent Finnish band. Not suprising in the least, Finland may be THE hottest place for metal nowadays, especially beautiful, well crafted melodic metal with a slight hint of doom.

My only complaint about this release is the production; the vocals are almost lost amongst the music. Maybe that was the sound they were going for, maybe not. Anyways, with skills like this they will most likely be able to get a sweet deal with a good label, and will be able to get better production next time.

The music is reminiscent of Katatonia, Amorphis, Rapture, Daylight Dies, Insomnium and other similar bands. They have unlimited potential and a great understanding of making melodic metal masterpiece albums, so they are already well on their way.

My favorite track was hard to pick for this one, because they are all equally solid.. but it was the lyrics combined with the powerful music of "three Names For Denial" that caught my full attention. "The only truth is misery, just like that I can't be free." Pretty deep stuff from a country covered in snow half the year.

Posted By:
cbrickhouse

Review from http://www.abrasiverock.com (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 2005
Link to review: http://www.abrasiverock.com

Writer: Zach Palme
Source: http://www.abrasiverock.com

I know a lot of metalheads that bitch about how 'other' music sucks so much and metal is just so goddamn great because no other bands play anything like it. However, most people seem to conveniently ignore the fact that a lot of metal has become the same as well. I mean, how many bands sound like Cannibal Corpse, The Haunted, HammerFall, or any of the other 'big' bands of a given genre? The sad thing is that nothing sounds new, refreshing, or even remotely interesting anymore. It is very rare that a band has that certain something that really makes you want to listen to the disc over and over again. Imagine my surprise when I put on a damn near unheard of band called Searing Meadow. At first I thought it was going to be a power metal cd because the intro is so melodic, but then come these really great sounding death metal vocals. I have been absolutely enthralled by this disc since I got it, and am kind of sad to review it only to shelve it for God knows how long.

Basically, this disc has really great riffs, but tons of melody. In fact, I don't know that the lead guitar ever lets up through the length of the cd other than the various piano or clean interludes. This is the epitome of melodic power metal. This isn't any of that shitty In Flames crap, though the vocals are comparable to Whoracle but with more melodic and upbeat guitars. They have plenty of upbeat and midpaced stuff, but as always, the true spirit and feeling is revealed in the ballad-esque track, which is Fading To Silhouette on this disc. This track really shows the strength of their melody and songwriting. The rest of the disc is quite memorable and just a fun listen.

This disc is not without fault, however. Unfortunately, like so many bands, none of the downfalls are directly related to the band's performance or ability. The production and mixing are just awful. The vocals are way low in the mix and the guitar tone is really buzzy, and the lead can take on a very irritating tone a lot of the time, which really takes away from the overall effect. It is not nearly so bad that it makes this hard to listen to, but I for sure can't wait for this band to get some attention so they can re-release this album with a mix and production that does the music and the band justice.

Review from http://www.pivotalrage.com/ (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 2005
Link to review: http://www.pivotalrage.com/

Searing Meadow - Corroding from Inside Review by: Ray Van Horn Jr.

After a few demos and over a year of work on their debut album this Finnish metal act has overcome delays to produce a mostly eloquent death metal album, Corroding From Inside.

While the melancholic “Another Savior” features hollow, cryptic bass by Ville Korhonen that derives its own character from the primarily doom-laden airs that unwaveringly adhere to hummable and articulate melody, “Infamous Lines” is downright morose, nevertheless made interesting with its swaying rhythms and attentive guitars by Ville Pekkala and Mika Ikonen.

The grand composition skills of this band really shine, particularly on the finale to “Mirror of Irony,” which continues into the marching tempo of “These Evening Tears” and later on with “Three Names for Denial.” “Blame the Nihilist” is particularly strong in terms of lyrical content and songsmanship. “One Phase of Distant Clarify” is a lengthy epic that grows stronger with each traditional metal-inspired minute. To continue the trend, Iron Maiden figures into the instantaneous and pulsing “Crystalblood,” a song as cool as a root beer flavored freezer pop.

The only detriment to Searing Meadow is Ikonen’s faded vocals, even with his random switch from growl to the rare clean. In some ways, the growling doesn’t do Searing Meadow’s inspired songs the justice they deserve, depending on your outlook. Perhaps hearing so many bands in the same genre in one sitting makes you a bit more discerning than might be appropriate, but these textured and vivacious songs deserve richer treatment on the vocal side. Otherwise, the effort is solid. The melodic “Wasted Heroes” and “All Obvious” waste no time with their blitzing mentality brought to life by highly smart guitars. That would account for the reason why Searing Meadow is heavy on the instrumentation side. Despite the minor gripes, this is a classy production that puts Searing Meadow in position to evolve into something even greater.

Rising Realm/Crash Music Inc. (Corroding from Inside)

Review date: 2005
Link to review: http://www.crashmusicinc.com/

Searing Meadow (Finland)- "Corroding From The Inside" (2004 Rising Realm/Crash Music Inc.)

This 4-piece from Finland has been coined as "picking up where Amorphis left off on "Tales From The Thousand Lakes". I can agree with that and the fact that they are mentioned not to be as dark musically. Originating back to '99, Searing Meadow somewhat reminds me of Sentenced with the good vibe musically and balances of melody and harmony with harsh to brutal mixtures of compositioning with some atmosphere added. Even at times this has a Black Metal feel to it, especially some of the vocals making this 12-track effort some good listening and an interesting debut for the band. The main focus to me on the album is the drumwork and all of the guitarwork since there's alot of bridges, leads and rhythms and everything is cleverly written. Could be a darkhorse for 2005.

Info: jackie@crashmusicinc.com or EarsplitPR@aol.com