Flying high on rage and ferocity is somewhat easy for a metalhead. And this here crew is full of ’em hungry gobblers of sharp metal shards. But as RMR’s credo flies, this zine ain’t only about Bastards from Asgard, the evil musings of the daemonic squad, or brutal evicerations in Death Metal country. Far from it.
A somewhat underdeveloped but important part of our musical triarchy @ RMR is rock and its many facets. And quite often, those records, so different from our usual fare in mood and texture, must meet the right moment for an in-depth investigation. That glimpse in time can happen at any moment or at none at all. So happened with the Swedish duo Moon Mother and their newest concoction, Meadowlands. At first, the RMR crew didn’t think it possible to really get into their little blurb. But finally, a few pensive moments fueled by insomniac late-night sessions were found. Lost in the murky haze of the Northern outback.
It’s funny, but the moment Sara Mehner, the vocalist, takes off, you indeed seem to enter some Meadowlands. An elaborate painting of a soundscape greets you, coming through in soft-toned grey and mustard pastel. A murky, misty place that refuses to be rushed but gingerly treads its way through them pastures, drowning in glittering morning dew. A blend of what Darkher delivered in the past and a mourning, if not downtrodden reincarnation of that Joan Baez sound buried far in the past. It’s a soundscape that grips you the moment it starts, leading you through the melancholic wasteland its songs and ditties wrap themselves around.
Mehner‘s emotionally troubled contributions find a neat counterpart in Patriec Ahlström‘s ebb and flow of halting interludes. Seconded by Robert Hall‘s measured drum work, he delivers the odd piano lick, plucked acoustic strings that follow a quietly persuasive and suavely constructed electric guitar, drunk on extensive atmospherics. And by doing so, both artists form a symbiotic entity dispensing a cathartic sentimentality that the RMR crew seldom found to date. Put differently, Meadowlands was able to hit similar chords with the RMR crew than Ljungblud’s Sauda session did when it hit our roster some time ago. And that’s a difficult feat to achieve with a crew composed of a bunch of ice-cold metal hearts.
And all of the above led to a couple of outstanding tracks. For example, Be A Forest, Child that sounds like some post Pink Floyd concoction by the tag-team Romany and David Gilmour. Speaking about which, check Windhover, the last track. And let me know what you hear when the excellent solo hits toward the end. In contrast, the delicately structured Wilderness, full of atmospherically-charged musings and gingerly plucked acoustics, really turned a few heads over here. A track that played on endless repeat over at the office tower.
And that leads us to a truly outstanding production effort. It shows that Moon Mother had an official studio doing the mix and master of Meadowlands. Case in point, Mehner‘s softly powerful vocals didn’t just roam freely at the top of everything. Instead, I liked the way how the mix sends her vox back and forth as the mood demands it. Not that the record is without negatives. For example, Root Window meanders way too much about its misty soundscape than is good for the record. Or take High Houses that insists a bit too much on intensity and compression instead of gently leading the audience into the record first. This ain’t no Death Metal piece where brutalization from the start is the norm, you know.
But fear naught. In the end, Meadowlands turned into tastily presented anguish in slow motion. A record best consumed in one sitting for best impact. You can listen to each track individually, of course. But if you fancy being transported into a gloomy and almost gothically melancholic outback of your emotional backwaters, then let the record talk to you as one piece. The gentle yet somber wails, the tasteful instrumental intrusions, the thoughtful arrangement, all that comes together as a whole. One that didn’t fail to suck us in for the duration a number of times. And then leaving us befuddled in its wake after the record petered out. Emotion writ large in delicate o-tones, to be consumed without moderation.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 6 February 2026