Sometimes you run into a band so pure that METAL must be written in all caps to describe them. Say hello to Italy’s HYPERION! These cats came out of nowhere to hit me upside the head with one of the year’s best METAL albums!
This is 100% pure steel, forged in the fires of PRIEST, MAIDEN and ‘RYCHE but with a bracing jolt of speed and a kick of modern power metal. There are eight compact songs on Cybergenesis and I can’t find much of a flaw in any of them. There’s no pointless intro or corny narration, this thing ignites with ‘Deafening’, a burst of classically influenced speed metal that hits hard and fast. These guys are TIGHT! Max Morelli is an awesome METAL vocalist with great diction and no trace of an accent. As clear as the sound of a bell on Sunday morning.
As great an opener as ‘Deafening’ was, I became totally invested in HYPERION with second song ‘Rewire, Rebuild’. This is more than all-caps METAL…it’s so true I have to bold it up! A killer combination of PRIEST and QUEENSRYCHE with a really soaring vibe to it. Lots of good songs on this album, but this is my favorite.
I kept waiting for things to slow way down or get sappy with a ballad, but it never happens. They keep the METAL flowing. Some neo-classical power metal with traces of IRON SAVIOR and GAMMA RAY emerge on ‘Blood Over Chrome’ and ‘Grain Of Sand’, but without fruity keyboards or sugary choruses. Morelli’s vocal performance never fails! The album fittingly ends with the epic ‘The Whole Of Time’, which is a good place to mention that Cybergenesis is a SF concept album. And even here, it’s better than usual. I could follow the story easily and the lyrics are outstanding for a band that’s not from an English speaking country.
This might just make it on to my year end list. If not, it won’t miss by much. Do not pass up this injection of pure METAL!
Review by Dr. Abner Mality
HYPERION
Cybergenesis
Fighter Records