Seems this year so far has brought me a lot of new discoveries. The latest being UK band Morpheus Rising with their Let The Sleeper Awake album. Kinda funny to name yourself after the Greek God of dreams, and then let the sleeper wake up… Ah well, I am sure they know what they are up to.
The band is formatted as a classic metal quintet (vocals, bass, drums and 2 x guitar) and that is exactly what first song Daylight confirms. High energy, dual lead guitar attacks, the works. Singer Si Wright has a warm and pleasant voice, but is not your typical metal screamer. His tone is darker and deeper, more like a 80´s new wave singer. Next track Lord Of The North continues that adrenaline pump, but here it seems keyboards are added. Low in the mix, but there is something cooking all right. The chorus is a big winner! The dual leads are again put to good use and deliver many a bridge that holds your attention. And much to my surprise Wright pulls off some screams as well. More metal than I figured 😉
As the album develops, the impression of the style of the band evolves as well. Due to the colours added with keyboards, I sometimes got a different vibe from this album. More progressive if you will, but I would like to bring that new wave connection up again. I really like the overall effect, bringing the band an identity of their own.
To sum it up, a very interesting melodic metal release that is very well worth hunting down. Excellent!
