Introducing: Meristem

Hungarian band Meristem have beautifully crafted a huge metalcore sound that blends heavy djent and metal influences with more electronic and melodic elements. The six-piece have honed a sound that jumps between the intensity we’ve grown accustomed to with Hungarian bands and more experimental approaches in a sound they describe as “energetic, emotional and spirited.”

The Budapest band began as the solo project of guitarist Bence Barkóczi in autumn 2017, releasing two experimental EPs before bringing in Soma Schiszler on bass and as the mixing engineer two years later. The duo decided to expand the group to perform as a conventional band, bringing in Gergő Varga on guitar, Máró Szirota on drums plus dual vocalists Tamás Stefán and Milán Rockov. And with the band formed, they released their first collaborative EP Necrosis last year.

And describing the sound they’ve honed, Bence tells us: “Guitar-based modern metal music mostly inspired by the new wave progressive metal/djent bands, blending with the elements of electronic music and metalcore-esque structures.”

Our latest taste of this is recent single Saviour, which opens with a building electronic sound and crashes into a wall of huge guitars and intense vocals. Clean vocals take over supported by chugging guitars and a piercing lick, which feeds into a delicious chorus. A funky lick links into another heavy verse, which drops into mellow guitars and laid-back vocals, before building back into a catchy chorus.

On the track, Bence says: “The reception has been amazing. Saviour is full of emotion and energy. Whoever loves catchy guitar riffs and huge choruses with some heavier parts will definitely love the song.” Check it out in the video here:

That’s recently been followed by new track Drifting, which opens up with light chugging guitars under emotionally-charged clean vocals. The vocals gradually build in intensity before eventually kicking into huge screamed vocals and booming guitars, which feed into a powerful chorus and a vicious conclusion. Check it out in the video here:

If you liked what you heard then there’s plenty more where it came from with four EPs available to dig into. We particularly love the sound of the intense Decline from last year’s EP Necrosis. Check it out in the video here:

The Meristem sound is shaped by a wide range of styles and sounds but their biggest inspirations include the likes of Volumes, Issues, I Prevail, Northlane, Periphery, Invent Animate and Silent Planet.

And on what inspires their music, Bence says: “Lyrically, it is mostly personal feelings. The musical drive is to create songs that feel different yet are easy to connect with.”

We’ve featured several great Hungarian bands over the last few years and on their local scene, Bence tells us: “There are few bands within our country who deliver heavy music and tend to reach a wider audience. However, there are many creative bands who make excellent music and try to ‘export it’ worldwide. The Hungarian music scene is definitely on the right path.”

There’s plenty more to come from Meristem, including new singles building up to a full-length album that could be out before the end of 2023.

And Bence adds: “This is a fully DIY band. We made every type of production by ourselves except for music videos. We make it for fun and hope that many people have as much fun listening to our music as we have making it.”

You can follow Meristem on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.