Hungarian symphonic metal act Meteora have always straddled the line between grandeur and grit, but their latest EP In This Silence feels especially urgent. Blending orchestral might, crushing riffs, and searing commentary, it’s the first installment of a trilogy that promises both sonic evolution and lyrical depth. We sat down with Atilla Király—keyboardist, clean vocalist, and principal composer—to talk about the inspiration behind the project, the band’s bold political voice, and what’s next for the Budapest-based collective.
📸Ulyana Tim Photographer Budapest Фотограф Будапешт
“In this Silence” explores themes of war, deception, and personal truth—what inspired the lyrical direction of this EP, and how do you see it reflecting current global tensions?
I couldn’t say that the EP has one lyrical theme throughout. In This Silence and Free were mainly inspired by the political situation in Hungary and the global trend of far-right ideas and populism becoming more prominent. The lyrics for Rebirth and Ghosts were written by Noémi, and both of those are much more personal..
The interplay between Noémi’s soaring vocals, Atilla’s clean lines, and Máté’s growls is striking. How do you approach composing vocal arrangements to balance beauty, clarity, and aggression?
Almost always the instrumental parts of the songs are written first, and even during the writing process you can just feel what type of vocals are needed for each part. Our main vocalist is Noémi of course, but if we feel that growls or male vocals are more suited to a part either because of the music or the lyrics we use that.There are two songs on the EP trilogy for example that are either mainly growls or clean male vocals. But you will need to wait for them for the second and third installments.
‘Free’ seems to be a call for resistance and unity. Was this track written as a response to any specific event or feeling of societal division?
Sadly it is not about one specific event but our every day lives. It is a song for the freedom of speech and against political propaganda. I wouldn’t call it a call to action song, but rather a reminder that as long as they don’t get in your head you are free. We have been writing songs about such political topics since our debut album but haven’t openly spoken out against what’s going on up until now. I think artists have responsibility in shaping public thinking and pointing out problems in our society, and we got to the point when just nicely written metaphors are not enough. We won’t be standing with any party, but we will speak up against issues whoever is causing them.
You’ve described this EP as the first in a trilogy—how far ahead have you mapped the narrative or musical arc of the next installments, and will they follow a connected story?
Releasing the songs in three EP’s is more of a marketing and promotional decision to be honest. There is so much new music coming out everyday that it is hard to anchor people down to yours for longer periods of time. That is partly why we decided to release our fourth album through three EP’s, and than tie them together into a physical LP. The other, less cold and calculating reason is that we wanted to highlight as many of the new songs as possible, and this way we can have six songs in the spotlight through the campaign rather than the usual three. We will continue the pattern of releasing a single off every EP, and then a music video or lyric video for another song when the record is out. If everything goes according to plan we’ll release the second one in October, and the last one in January. We also have some ideas for next year as well aside from doing shows, we’ll see.
Working with producers like Nino Helfrich and Joel Wanasek must have brought new perspectives. What was the biggest creative shift or revelation during theproduction of this EP?
We have been working with our previous studio since our debut album ’Our Paradise’, so that’s three LP-s and about 6 years, and loved it all. But this time we wanted to change our sound, and that’s why we decided to look for new people to work with. By the time we get to recording and mixing the songs need to be totally finished, financially we would go even more broke if we did brainstorming during that time. Nino has a totally different approach to mixing than what we were used to, we needed to adjust to each other of course, but since he and Joel are professionals they saved the day on multiple occasions, and we are really happy with how the songs are turning out. We are still in the mixing process of EP #2, so it’s still a really exciting period for us regarding the creation of the albums.
With the recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne, often called the godfather of metal, what impact has his musicor persona had on your development as a symphonic metal band?
His and Black Sabbaths contribution to music, especially heavy music is undeniable, and we are grateful to them for laying the foundations to the subgenre we love so much.
Your sound is lush and layered—from sweeping keys to intricate guitar work. Are there any specific synths, guitar tones, or plug-ins that were crucial to crafting the sonic atmosphere of In this Silence?
As composer my most used library is BBC Symphonic Orchestra, it is just a phenomenal kit. I bought it when we were finishing the mixing of ’…ofShades and Colours’, so only one or two songs has instruments from it, but this time most of the symphonic tracks you hear in every song is from that one. Aside from that Lacrimosa choir and Metropolis Ark 1 came up regularly, as well as some specific sounds from my trusty Korg Nautilus, the synth that I use live as well. For the guitar and drum tones we sent Nino reference tracks made by the Danis and Gábor, and than he reamped their tones, so finding the right tone fitting to the mix was a joint effort.
If the members of Meteora were fantasy RPG characters during the writing of In this Silence, who would be the mage, the bard, the rogue, and who would inevitably try to pet the dragon mid-battle?
Love this question! The dragon-petting gentlemen would surely be Gábor and Dani (Baranya), the former loves animals and the latter loves trolling. I would take the mantle of the mage, the whole ’lets make a new album’ process goes through me and coordinating everything feels as unreal as magic would. The bards would have to be the gal and guy in the front, so Noémi and Máté. Which leaves Dani (Schreiber) as the rogue, who is more of a fighter type but would love to see him play one.
Meteora are not just composing music—they’re crafting sonic statements. In This Silence is bold, cinematic, and politically charged, and this first EP is just the opening move in what promises to be a transformative trilogy. As their sound continues to evolve, so too does their voice—one that speaks clearly, even through the noise. Stay tuned for Part Two of the trilogy this October.
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Categories: Interviews, Meteora, Music
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