Help me discover Unlucky Morpheus - Dignity of Spirit! Reaction/analysis

[@Socrates_1775]

I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I thought you would! The guy you highlighted on is Shiren. He is a founding member of the band along with the singer, Fuki. Shiren writes and composes their music while Fuki adds lyrics and designs their costumes. Shiren is also an original Kami Band member with Babymetal. As you said, they are all top notch musicians! I'll throw up more about this band in Discord 🤘😊🤘

[@ooobydoob3786]

Great song, great band! 👍

[@Socrates_1775]

Yup! Thanks oooby 🤘😁🤘

[@david_ii11]

I think this is one of their more conventional J-rock songs (aside from Fuki's powerful vocals) . What sets Unlucky Morpheus apart from other bands is the unusual classical-sounding harmonies, not just Mozart and Bach but 19th and 20th century classical, which gives some of their songs a special eerie flavor. "The Black Death Mansion Murders," "Unending Sorceress," "La Voix du Sang" and "Angreifer" (live version) are good examples. They feature the violin more prominently than this song.

[@Greg-om2hb]

FUKI has an INSANE vibrato and magnificent hair. I love her work with DOLL$BOX. My favorite UM song is BLACK PENTAGRAM (the MV), which has a great Metal Core/Death Metal sound. Their sartorial aesthetic is more generally like VISUAL KEI.

[@gunsogiroro4964]

Thank you for your reaction to my favorite Unlucky Morpheus. I especially love this song. More Unlucky Morpheus reactions please.

[@homegnome2429]

My favourite UM song, covers so much ground and shows off a lot of what they can do. Without giving anything away I imagine Prymal would be interested by the concept of Cadaver / Revadac.

[@guybrushthreepwood1519]

I didn't even think of that right away, but sure, that ought to be interesting :)

[@Patrick_H.]

What a Great song to choose as your first Ankimo (the Real name of this band) song. Such a beautiful soulful song - until it punches you right in the face. UM was founded in 2008 by Shiren (headless guitar) and Fuki (vocals) as an Anime and video game music cover band. Over the years they added members and started writing their own music. Violinist Jill is the most recent (2016). Fuki learned to sing from her mother and prefers the wide vibrato, but she has complete control and can use just as much as she wants. She is very in demand (recorded with about 70 bands) and uses different vibrato for what each band wants. Jill is a BEAST, and there is a sub-section of the band called Quadratum with Jill, Jinya (other guitar), Fumiya (drums), and Ogawa (bass), where they do covers of classic Rock and Metal songs with the focus on Jill - Ogawa laughingly calls it the 'Jill Show-off Project' (check out the covers of Yngwie's Far Beyond the Sun kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2PLi3ewf9VshsU , or the Live version of Eddie Van Halen's Eruption - followed by Dream Theater's Dance of Eternity - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnSVcmSel9p_o6s. Jill will straight up Blow Your Mind. I know you'll get other UM suggestions, so I added the Quadratum links because you deserve to see them🙂. UM Fun Fact - Ankimo in Japanese means Monkfish Liver.

[@stevebillingsley3529]

Couldn't agree more - @PrymalChaos should definitely check out Quadratum. Dance of Eternity is one of my favorite - Jill shows off by playing Jordan Rudess's keyboard part on violin. With 108 time changes in one song (well, it IS Dream Theater - would John Petrucci and John Myung have it any other way), it really showcases how tight the 4-person subset of this band really is. Both the live version and the OMV (live studio session) are excellent in their own way.

[@Patrick_H.]

@@stevebillingsley3529 I agree, and with the Live Dance of Eternity you get the Eruption solo as a Bonus :0)

[@ANDOR-]

Thanks for the history! Just one thing, Ankimo is just an abbreviation of Unlucky Morpheus (because Japanese need to abbreviate everything English in strange ways). UN-luc-KY MO-rpheus or in romanized Japanese AN-rak-KI MO-rufeasu (アンラッキー • モルフェウス).

[@Patrick_H.]

@@ANDOR- Actually, (according to their J-Wiki page) the Ankimo 'nickname' came first, then they made an anagram of the Kanji in Ankimo and came up with Unlucky Morpheus (I think to have a more English sounding name for future marketing). I think it's hilarious that they would name their band 'Monkfish Liver' - but it IS evidently considered a great delicacy in Japan. And Ankimo is indeed a musical delicacy to me. I have their Live BluRay from Toyosu Pit from last year and it is Amazing. The presence and contribution of Jill in the band and their sound just keeps growing. (OK - gotta admit, I have loved classical violin for most of my life, and have become a Massive Jill FanBoy over the years - although I still listen to and enjoy the older UM stuff prior to 2016)

[@ANDOR-]

@@Patrick_H. That's interesting, that the abbreviation came first. But I shouldn't be surprised with Japan and their tries to speak or name something in English. I'm a fan, too, but I prefer their older stuff, from the Vampir EP or Change of Generation. The new album didn't click for me (yet). Unfortunately for their financial success you're right that they're a delicacy... extremely good, but not for everyone, especially in pop-loving Japan. I saw Fuki's Birthday Concert 2022, I think, when it was uploaded on KZbin for a short time and the Change of Generation Tour Final Bluray. Love their energy and how much fun they're having with their MCs and fill in stuff like a two man bass solo, etc.

[@notdynomonkey]

All members of this band have amazing stories that hopefully someone else that knows will elaborate on. Next songs should be "Cadaver/revadaC" they play the song backwards at the end. "Black Pentagram" . My favorite is them live doing "eruption (violin solo then/"Dance of eternity" fom dream theater. Unfrickin believable!!!!!!!! Go deep on these guys!!

[@guybrushthreepwood1519]

Actually one of my favorite Ankimo songs, Opfer and Angreifer have a little edge still. They're all top-notch musicians and play several bands/projects, while I do love Yousei Teikoku a bit more, Unlucky Morpheus is a long-time favorite, and a lot of that is thanks to Jill, her violin just adds something other bands lack, synth-strings aren't quite the same, eh? Thankfully, while they're not really well-known outside Japan, Ankimo has quite a following so I'm sure someone will write up a longer comment, I'm just happy to see more of them, always a treat! Just as a little aside, because of all the pirate-y thoughts Jill played violin for FATE GEAR's song The Sky Pirates :) -edit- Having watched it all now, I think you might be thinking of Visual Kei as that "Hair metal" look? And just for the record Shiren (The guy giving you Malmsteen vibes and founding member) summarized their music as "technical melodic speed-metal". There's a lot to go into about Touhou, why they look like they do, all their other band histories and what-not, but I'm sure someone will give you the grand write-up, I'll just leave my favorite, Angreifer (Live): kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXiuiJqDaa6CncU

[@maximushaughton2404]

So you like Yngwie Malmsteen and the violin, then there is only one answer to that. 【Cover】Yngwie Malmsteen - Far Beyond The Sun (Violin Cover) kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2PLi3ewf9VshsU This is a side project of the band called "QUADRATUM From Unlucky Morpheus", which may help fall in love with Jill (violin) like the rest of Unlucky Morpheus's fan base. Jill has to be the most talented member of the band. Jill is a Tokyo University of the Arts graduate, and finished top of her year. The band started in 2008 as a side project between the guy you highlighted, Shiren, and Fuki (singer) as a band that did covers/rearrangements of music from a popular Video game series in Japan called Touhou. With both of them being workaholics, they managed to put out 1 or 2 albums a year, while still being full time members of other bands. After a while their fans wanted to see them play live, so they got some friends to help them out, slowly over the years they kept to the same friends helping them. In 2014 they put out an album of their own works, which was a metal album. 2014 was also when Shiren discovered Jill and just knew it was a sound he needed for the band. Then in 2016, Fuki had been without a full time band for 2 years, they took the band full time, and the friends that had been helping them out live + Jill became full members. The band are a totally independent band, they do their own management, they have their own label, arrange their tours, do their own publicity (apart from the fans that push them on to reactors 😁 ) and they only release their albums to 1 of 2 shops in Tokyo (depending on the music style). They are a band small band that aims at the small Japanese market, and are happy to be that. They are genuinely surprised by the number of fans that they have outside Japan, and have said they will not change just because of becoming popular overseas, will still aim for that small Japanese market (something I love about this band). They have only ever played once outside Japan, and that was in London at a Japanese metal Festival called Metal Matsuri, where I got to see them live. Fuki and Jill are not related. Fuki is one of the most sort out female singers in Japan, and has sung with a lot of other bands, inc Gacharic Spin, she even did a tour singing for them after GS;s singer did not turn up. They even have a side project together called "Doll$boxx". Jill does have an older brother, who is also a violin player and the reason why Jill picked up the violin at age 3. They also have a band together called "Rose Noire". Band members: AKA: Fuyuki Tenge (天外冬黄). The band's co-founder. Vocals, Lyrics, Art direction, Illustration, Desktop publishing. Sings in multiple bands, she is the lead singer in Light Bringer, Unlucky Morpheus, DOLL$BOXX, and Fuki Commune/Fuki. Some of the bands she sang as a guest in are: Dragon Guardian, Undead Corporation, 5150, ふぉれすとぴれお (Foresutopireo), BlazBlue Phase III Chronophantasma OST, Gacharic Spin, Sound Horizon, Nozomu Wakai’s Destinia, Carbonic Acid, Red Zone: Terra Formars Revenge OST, Knights Of Round, Syu, and many others. She also does voice acting, she used to run a radio show, she has a kanji kentai level 1 degree, and she is a Sugino fashion college costume creation graduate, she makes some of the costumes she and the band wear. Shiren (紫煉) AKA: Yukimura Hirano (平野幸村) The band's leader and co-founder. Guitars, Harsh vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Programming, Drums, Percussion, Arrangement, Composition, and various other instruments. Used to be in several other bands like 妖精帝國 (Yousei Teikoku), "電気式華憐音楽集団" (Denkishiki Karen Ongaku Shuudan) AKA "Denkare", Undead Corporation, Icarus'Cry, XI, Radock, Lunatic Toho, and Freedom Creators. He was even in the 1st live Kami band for Babymetal. But He quit from all other bands in December 2017 and focused solely on Unlucky Morpheus due to a wrist injury (tenosynovitis). Jinya (仁耶) AKA: 炭酸 (Tansan, meaning: Carbonic Acid). Guitar. He has his own band "Carbonic Acid" and he also plays guitar in Undead Corporation, Quadratum From Unlucky Morpheus, and he also played in Freedom Creators. Hiroyuki Ogawa (小川洋行) AKA: Ogya, Ogawa-kun. Bass. He plays Bass in Quadratum From Unlucky Morpheus, Trick Box, The Charm Park, and he played in Swing of the Dead, Chrovio, Lunatic Toho, and Freedom Creators. He always refers to himself as a Jazz bassist, and not a metal bassist, as he is only plays metal in UM, but his other bands are all Jazz. Fumiya Morishita (森下フミヤ) AKA 風眠 (Fuumin), Fuming. Drums, Piano, and Percussion. He plays in Quadratum From Unlucky Morpheus, Thousand Eyes, and 猫曼珠 (Neko manju). And he played in Galneryus, Syu, Freedom Creators, Swing of the Dead, BlazBlue Phase III Chronophantasma OST, Yuhkinen, Undead Corporation, Guilty Gear Xrd Sound Live 2014 Archives, and with Hizaki. Jill Violin. She plays in Rose Noir and in Quadratum From Unlucky Morpheus. And she played in Fuki's solo album "Million Scarlets", Hollow Mellow, Fate Gear, Kinki Kids, Chemistry, Juju, Daizy Stripper, Der Zibet, Tomoya Nagase, Hizaki, Mari Fukuhara, Misia, eupe, Rie a.k.a Suzaku, and more. She is a Tokyo University of the Arts graduate. They do have another member who is also a singer, it's very rare to see him, and only sings in some of their Touhou rearrangements songs. Kasumi (歌澄) AKA: Tsuyoshi Denshirenji (電子レンジ剛志). Vocals. He sang in Icarus'Cry, Lunatic Toho, and 劇情テノール (Gekijou tenouru).

[@cheshirecat200302]

+1 to that. No shame in picking up your jaw off the floor afterwards 😄

[@AngelLWJ]

UM is one of my favorite bands. Each of their members is top level musician. Their music style includes neo-classical, speed metal, metalcore, melodic death and other elements. I recommend 《black pantagram》 live as the next one!🤘🏻

[@Lucifer-c1v]

フキ・コミューンは、史上最も美しく偉大な日本の女性歌手である！

[@MaartenT]

There are already some comments with a lot of info, but an other cool tidbit about them is that they started as a doujin band (which is basically an amateur band) who did covers for the Touhou franchise (wikipedia Touhou Project). There are doujin manga writers and things like that as well in Japan, typically going of of existing work and creating fandriven work. I think you can somewhat compare it to fanfiction. This song is actually one of their covers of a Touhou song. They started with just 2 members originally in 2008 (like one of the other comments mentioned), but they basically took that same mindset and kept using it when they got together with the 6 fantastic musicians you see in this performance. They are still an independent band, no labels, they try to do as much as they can themselves and are basically their own managers as they hire people if needed to do things like manning the camera's or mixing an album. I have read that Fuki (the female vocalist) even makes a lot of the costumes herself. They are apparently completely fine with people reacting to their stuff as long as they use material from their official channel and not using ripped stuff from their DVD's and Blu-rays and such. I just love the mindset that they have, they also do regular solo streams chatting with fans and playing their instrument while chatting. I have seen a couple of great recommendations in the other comments and it's an other live cover, but I absolutely love their "【Live Cover】Eruption(Van Halen) ～ The Dance of Eternity(Dream Theater)" video. It's without the 2 original members (Fuki on vocals and Shiren on guitar/vocals), but it shows the skill of the other members and especially Jill on violin (and she is basically what made me check them out more originally).

[@Unibear419]

Please react more Unlucky Morpheus live performance 🎸

[@corruptedfiles1989]

Totally was dungeon. They must have supported 100 international acts. UM are awesome btw 🤘

[@dedmanstudios983]

I knew you'd like them, I said Prymal, I said Chaos your gonna love this band.🤓

[@PrymalChaos]

Hahah. Yeah. They rock!

[@SeulgiAngryAbs]

Fuki is my favorite singer. Unlucky Morpheus are top notch musicians. I hate when people say genius to everything but I would dare to say it for this band. More of them please.

[@Greish-esquire]

About time! 😁🤣 Isn't Jill(Vi) amazing ....

[@PrymalChaos]

They all are pretty awesome!

[@lungazue9113]

U missing the drum solo 😢

[@lizlyxypin2225]

Hello, new subscriber here. Please check out to make a video reaction on this amazing family band also from the Philippines called Franz Rhythm on their cover of Lady Gaga's Always Remember Us This Way. Thanks.