Me7amorphosis

Boy, did the Hibria train crash hard? Starting off as an invigorating power metal act with Defying the Rules and Blind Ride (as well as the iconic “Tiger Punch” from the otherwise middling The Skull Collectors) before descending into tired mediocrity, culminating with Moving Ground whose overall meandering, muddled compositions had it sounding almost as bad as St Anger – yeah, Abel Camargo effectively resetting the band with an all new cast of characters was about the best thing that the band could’ve done. The first single, “Fearless Will”, was quite promising, with Victor Emeka sounding almost as energized as Iuri Sanson did back in the 2000s and the rest of the band putting together a more tightly knit sound. Not quite on the same level as “Welcome to the Horror Show” nor “STEEEEEEEL LORD ON WHEEEEEEELS”, and certainly not a misplaced Eternity’s End song, but a solid, reliable slab of slightly technical power metal nonetheless.

If nothing else, you certainly get those flourishes of the old Hibria – particularly throughout “Shine”, “Raging Machine”, and the rerecording of “Fearless Will”. Emeka hits those glorious highs Sanson hit almost 20 years ago, helping to facilitate some rather powerful, catchy choruses. Camargo and Godinho shred their solos like their lives depend on it, and the riffs often facilitate between speed metal and grooves. They can certainly facilitate some tight melodies (if not all great – more on that later), and with the help of Quiroga’s invigorating percussion and Baumgarten’s techy basslines here and there, there’s certainly a bit of fire throughout the compositions. The pieces are all there for the rebirth of Hibria. That’ll show Sanson’s new band!

Yeah, except where Eternity’s End’s Embers of War was like early-90s Running Wild rolling on ecstasy, Me7amorphosis is more of a tease. Much of it comes in how it starts off well enough and ends with songs that just do absolutely nothing! “The Racer” with its tired speed metal riffs, “A Storm to Heal” with its stodgy groove, and “Tribal Mark” dragging its decently bouncy groove on a bit ends the album on a right whimper. But, despite the aforementioned positive traits, only three of the other seven songs on this album really sound all that flash. “Fearless Will” definitely grew on me since the first time I listened to it as a peppy song, full of slick riffs – both guitars and bass – and uplifting vocal lines that are reminiscent of better times. Same sort of thing with “Shine” and “Raging Machine”, with the latter’s liberal use of solos and the former’s positively smooth, kicking composition. It sounds like a band that’s back in business, and then a merely solid but ultimately flatter track like “Skyline of the Soul” pops up and it’s clear that there’s still some work to be done to get back to business.

That being said, the only song from the remaining four that isn’t any good is “Meaning of Life”, but then most bands that aren’t Blind Guardian aren’t all that good at ballads anyway. “I Am So Lonely” almost hits this low with its stodgy verse riff – basically like a line or two in a scene that works great as a trailer hook but comes across awkward as shit in the actual movie – but there’s no denying how dumb and catchy that chorus is. Well played, mr Emeka.

There’s a lot going in Me7amophosis’ favor, but it really only shines through on three songs while the rest of the album is either solid or not very good. It’s an interesting conundrum because – outside of “Meaning of Life” and “A Storm to Heal” – the songs are fundamentally similar to one another with many of the same positives, leaving the verses being the main separator. There’s just this wide birth separating a song like “Fearless Will” from a song like “Skyline of the Soul”. Both fit within Hibria’s inimitable style – a more technical take on power metal – but the latter lacks the energy of the former, is what I’m saying. Not quite a rebirth, but a sign of things to come.