If there is a country where Power Metal still arouses my greatest interest, it is Japan. And among the most interesting bands that one can find, there is Unlucky Morpheus who return after 2 years of their previous studio album “Unfinished” which was among my favorites of 2020. The band is currently made up of Jinya on guitars, Ogawa on bass , Fuki on vocals, Shiren on guitars, Fumiya on drums, and Jill on violin. The album brings us 10 new Power Metal songs full of melody, epic moments and pompous keyboards at various times.
After a more electronic beginning comes “M” Anthem, a fast song of Symphonic Power Metal with certain neoclassical touches, the double bass drum does not breathe and the amount of detail in the instrumental section is remarkable, especially towards the solos, while Fuki gives us an epic performance. “Amaryllis” is the best of the album, being another fast song with beautiful violin arrangements and one of the catchiest and most inspired choruses on the album. Something shorter and darker is “Welcome To Valhalla” being a song where the voice takes on greater prominence in the intense choruses and choruses. Something more Hard Rock sounds like “Tagatameni” at the beginning although symphonic elements shine in the chorus and gives us an excellent piece of Melodic Metal, with heavy riffs and the violin drawing excellent background melodies. The violin steals the show in the instrumental short “Wer is Faust?” neoclassical in style and which immediately links us to “The Black Death Mansion Murders” which is a great exercise in Neoclassical Power Metal, with crushing rhythms, melodic and virtuous guitar and violin solos while the voice adds a certain drama. With “Serene Evil” and “M” Revolution – “evolution” ver. They keep up the good stuff, being excellent demos of Power Metal with great choruses, an impeccable instrumental part and some of the best choruses on the album. Finally, the beautiful and symphonic “Yumemaboroshi” turns out to be an emotional closing where the voice and the violin take on greater prominence.
With this “Evolution” the Unlucky Morpheus band gives another great demonstration of virtuosity and emotion at the service of Power Metal, being one of the bands that encourages me to continue listening to this style among so many bands that, beyond abusing clichés or falling into The predictable, they show a certain lack of inspiration, something that the Japanese have plenty of here because they know how to keep our attention playing with resources that we already know. Undoubtedly an unmissable album for lovers of the genre.
