European Power Metal from the Far East - A Review of Minstrelix's Eleven Trajectories

Ever since a great friend of mine and myself have been ordering music merchandise from CD Japan, we are occasionally receiving recommendations regarding bands that might suit our personal preferences. This is how I discovered Minstrelix and I have to admit that the quartet's melodic power metal certainly pleases me. A reason why Minstrelix's music impresses me more now than it normally would is because European power metal has been on a slight downward slope in recent years and since few genre records have truly managed to leave a positive lasting impression as of late. It's ironic that Japanese bands are holding the European power metal flag high but this is exactly what groups such as Concerto Moon, Galneryus and Minstrelix have now been doing successfully for many years.

What I like about Minstrelix's Eleven Trajectories is that each and every song offers mid- to fast-paced melodic power metal at its best without any compromises and experiments. This record is coherent, consistent and fluid throughout. If you truly love this genre, you are going to get fifty-four minutes of what you want to hear. This record impresses with melodic male lead vocals, catchy and powerful backing vocals, fast and melodic guitar play with gripping riffs and ecstatic solos, occasional symphonic arrangements from guest musicians on keyboards, swiftly paced drum rhythms and a few decent bass guitar patterns. Songs such as melodic, powerful and vibrant opener "Memento Mori 〜The Goddess Pt.2〜" and epic, playful and symphonic "Dracurious" convince right from the start and grow with every spin. The group also showcases its remarkable talent in instrumental tunes such as atmospheric piece "To the Distant Skies" and particularly inspired "Cataclysm" that hearkens back to German and Italian power metal from the nineties while also including a few minor progressive passages in form of a brief and efficient bass guitar solo.

This record's few minor downsides are comparable to those of bands that have inspired Minstrelix in the first place. The production is a little bit mellow as the bass guitar is barely audible at times and the drum play buried in the background. A more dynamic mastering could have increased this record's life-affirmining impact even more. Another issue is that this type of music might end up sounding somewhat exhausting and saccharine through fifty-four minutes of music. Just as with other extremes such as death metal, a perfect genre record should be about forty minutes long to be easy to digest.

Still, Minstrelix's Eleven Trajectories is highly recommended to any fan of melodic power metal in general and avid aficionados of European power metal from the nineties by bands such as Edguy and Rhapsody of Fire. This album will put a bright smile upon your face and proves once again that great metal music can spread much imagination, joy and optimism.