Style: Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal (Mixed Vocals, Mostly Clean Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Galneryus, Lovebites, Versailles
Country: Japan
Release date: 3 June 2026

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As music reviewers—particularly at a blog dedicated to progressive music—we at the Prog Subway often criticize bands for lacking creative growth, using stereotypes, and falling into cliches. Those three things make up a sizable portion of our complaints. Yet songwriting techniques often become stereotyped/cliched because those things are fundamentally good ideas, so executing the more basic trappings of a genre with excellence can still create a worthwhile release. If you’re good enough at what you do, is there reason to change up the formula?

Unlucky Morpheus are one of Japan’s finest power metal exports, in an echelon with groups like Galneryus and Versailles, and although their eighth album Gate of Hell—sister album to last year’s Gate of Heaven—is by and large a continuation of what they’ve released for a decade, it’s a damn good time. The choruses are infectious, with melodies one can easily hum along to after a single listen,¹ and Fuki’s vocals are first class as ever with her luxurious tone and masterful control over borderline excessive vibrato. Figuring out which choruses are best is an impossible task with competition like “The Raven,” “Zennaku No Higan,” and the re-recorded “Get Revenge on the Tyrant”, but the way the chorus of “Godforsaken Silence” bursts out of a slow section for a final time near its end makes it a strong contender for first—even if that’s a bit of a cliche song ending. “Godforsaken Silence” also features a prominent industrial metal influence, which Unlucky Morpheus mixes with a harpsichord melody—decidedly not a stereotypical usage of the instrument.

What Unlucky Morpheus continues to do best, though, is constantly show off the members’ awesome virtuosity. The shred skills of guitarists Shiren and 仁耶 match practically any of the axe goats, their playing most reminiscent of fellow Japanese guitar legends Syu (Galneryus) and Hizaki (Versailles, Jupiter). Their playing is actually quite restrained for most of the tracks, utilizing lots of chunky riffs that serve the songs, but once Unlucky Morpheus reach a solo section, the guitarists pop off, tapping spiraling arpeggios together while drummer Fumiya Morishita injects groovy fills into his blast beats. The standout performer among all the virtuosity is Jill, whose violin somehow matches the blistering pace of the neoclassical guitar solos, both in verbatim harmonies with them or by taking a solo lead. The jaw dropping bow performance from Jill has always been a key aspect of Unlucky Morpheus’s signature sound, along with Fuki’s distinctive voice, and Gate of Hell may showcase her best performances yet. Pick any track on the record and press play: you’ll quickly hear how remarkable her neoclassical playing is.

Not every genre cliche works well. While I appreciate that Gate of Hell tries to be the most aggressive Unlucky Morpheus release in a while, the “beauty and the beast” aesthetic so common in symphonic metal falls flat. Shiren’s growling harshes are decent, but they don’t meld well with the upbeat power metal—even at the more muscled sections like the blast beats in “The Raven,” the breakdown at the end of “Don’t Look at Me,” or the Sepultura-like groove in “Onikobe.” Fuki’s belting, strong and full of vibrato as it is, easily equals the energy of the heaviest sections well enough that the harsh vocals are unnecessary; I find power metal with growls to be a bit antithetical to the genre, so with the rest of the album seeing Unlucky Morpheus being disciples to the Japanese power metal sound, there is a fundamental mismatch. 

While not groundbreaking, Gate of Hell is nonetheless a slab of virtuosic Japanese power metal heaven that old and new fans alike should love. The record is a bit surface level—only taking a single listen for me to fully understand and appreciate its solos and choruses —but Gate of Hell is also replayable any time you want anthemic, fun music. If Unlucky Morpheus keep releasing stuff to this caliber, I don’t care how long they do so without changing it up too much.

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Recommended tracks: The Raven, L’Offrande Au Néant, Zennaku No Higan
You may also like: Light Bringer, Syu, Fuki, Jupiter, Unholy Orpheus
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Official Website | Instagram

Label: Fabtone Inc.

Unlucky Morpheus is:
– 紫煉 (Shiren) (harsh vocals, guitars)
– Hiroyuki Ogawa (bass)
– Fumiya Morishita (drums)
– 仁耶 (guitars)
– Fuki (vocals)
– Jill (violin)

1. I’m sure they’re sing along-able, too, but I don’t speak Japanese. ↩︎