IRLYA - IL Y A -

Absolute enjoyment! This album is a hidden treasure. "Il-ya (イリヤ)" is a second release of a japanese post metal band "Mutyumu (夢中夢)". Though released in 2008, this CD could rank one of my finest discovery of this year and the last. First I put the CD in to my player and WOW...what a beautiful piece of music! Last year with this album and this year with Mono's Hymn To The Immortal Wind, I really love japan!

Talented band, beautiful sound, great mixing and production. Mutyumu entertained me with multi-layer of music. Altogether from classic element of piano and violin, glassy and emotional overdriven Stratocaster, funky running bass, fusion-rock drum and above all an angelic, sometime screaming, voice of the vocalist (think she appears in the CD package, supremely gorgeous!). These instrumentalists interplay beautifully in almost every track. One minute you are floating above the cloud and the next you will feel like you are drowning deep in the ocean, their music is just like that-- extremely emotional and adventurous.

I think I feel a bit lost in words of how to convey you such a fantastic experience I encountered in this album. One thing I do certain is that this is a very well-crafted piece of art. If you like post metal, I truly hope you would not miss this gem. Highly recommend!

Mutyumu's combination of operatic vocals, ambient soundscapes, metal guitars, post-rock and math-rock influences, and production quality make for a fantastic album. The absolute standout track is track 2, Die Ewige Wiederkunft. This track features a driving guitar-leading tempo with a memorable piano sub-melody, which transitions seamlessly into a vocal and violin melody with a beautiful, albeit repetitive, piano counter-melody; finally, the "chorus" in so much as one could call it that, is absolutely brilliant, crescendoing into a post-rock riff, and then continuing to mix all of the previously-mentioned elements to form a beautiful demonstration of Mutyumu's talent. Other notable tracks include "1 - Intro Il Y A", "8 - Raison D'etre", and "11 - Hai No Hi" being not far behind in quality or beauty. At times slow and melodic, at other times driving and upbeat, Mutyumu strikes a delicate balance on this album. Recommended for fans of any of the genre's listed at the beginning of this review.

Eclectic soft prog from Japan. Music is not melted in one mix, but combines of many different songs, and each song contains few different styles. Some positive side of this way of mixing is all the album is enough different.

Main music components there are symphonic, neo-classic ( more immitation, than real one), post rock, electronics and operatic vocals. So, everyone can find something he /she likes? Sound is good, but very safe, polished, even commercial.

Possibly, bigger problem there is that all music is mostly based on melodic, almost cheesy pop-rock. So, even when interesting pieces are included in song, this pop-sweet basis just destroys possible great result. Many acoustic instruments/ strings are filling the space quite pleasantly. But again, I really more like some very separate pieces (plenty of them), but not the song (and album's music) in whole.

The album is long, but isn't boring. To be honest, I am not sure about classification of this music: band connection with any form of metal is very limited. However , in some moments you can hear Nightwish echoes.

Interesting, but more as experimental work, than as final musical product. Somewhere around 2,5.