{"id":12580,"date":"2023-12-05T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12580"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:11:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:11:02","slug":"ep-review-merin-merin-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2023\/12\/05\/ep-review-merin-merin-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"EP Review :: Merin :: Merin &#8211; EP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a3172852908_16.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a3172852908_16.jpg 700w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a3172852908_16-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a3172852908_16-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/a3172852908_16-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>by Bradi Breckman&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Local alt-rock band Merin released their third EP this past August, and I had the pleasure of giving it a thorough listen. Full of pop-culture references and galactic metaphors, this album is the soundtrack to an epic space adventure \u2014 even referencing the classic sci-fi film <em>Dune <\/em>in the opening track, \u201cFear is the Mind Killer, Nerd.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Musically, the first thing I noticed was the lead singer\u2019s ability to adjust his vocals to the mood of each track. In &#8220;Don&#8217;t Carry on, My Wayward Son,\u201d the vocals exude excitement and confidence, contrasting the softness of the following track, \u201cA Place Where Time Forgot.\u201d<em> <\/em>The rhythmic guitar lines support the vocals and hold their own during the instrumental bridges. The drums provide a steady base under every track, and each instrument blends together to create a unique sound.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the tracks themselves, three out of the six stood out strongly.<em> <\/em>The third track, \u201cDon\u2019t Carry on, My Wayward Son,\u201d<em> <\/em>grabbed me before it even started, as the title referenced the famous song by the band Kanas. The crescendoing instrumentals and crunchy harmonies held my attention throughout the song, while the lyrics put a smile on my face. The fourth song, \u201cA Place Where Time Forgot,\u201d<em> <\/em>evoked feelings of nostalgia and presented excellent lyricism. Its bittersweet feel definitely made it a memorable track, while the closing song, \u201cPsychotic Dream Land,\u201d<em> <\/em>made for a perfect finale. With emotional vocals and vivid lyrics that drew up pictures of liminal spaces, it was hard not to feel emotional while listening to it. The instrumental ending left me wanting more \u2014 a cliffhanger conclusion to the album\u2019s musical story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only song that did not leave an impact on me was the fifth track, \u201cI Kinda Hate It.\u201d The lyrics were less original, and they lacked a certain energy that the others had. That said, the instrumentals remained steady and were excellent in the second half of the song.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, I can definitely say that I am a fan of this EP and this band. The creative lyrics, paired with the powerful instrumentals and impactful vocals, make this a must-listen. I hope to hear more from Merin soon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Merin - Coral Island\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1JpEBAMeiN0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bradi Breckman&nbsp; Local alt-rock band Merin released their third EP this past August, and I had the pleasure of giving it a thorough listen. Full of pop-culture references and galactic metaphors, this album is the soundtrack to an epic space adventure \u2014 even referencing the classic sci-fi film Dune in the opening track, \u201cFear [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[320,1484,1215,796],"class_list":["post-12580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-ep","tag-ep-review","tag-merin","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12580"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12611,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580\/revisions\/12611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}