Elysia by Hyperion opens with an introductory track, as most albums seem to do these days, which is something, that you will know if you read my work on a regular basis, is something I hate.

Except, this isn’t some noodling in a forest next to a stream. It isn’t the sounds of a haunted house surrounded by knock-off Halloween ghost effects, nor is it the sound of howling winds and creaking castles. It is an overture.

A fucking overture.

Like, a proper fucking overture.

A piece called Rapturous Overture that is 2:41 and wouldn’t sound out of place being played by the fucking London Philharmonic. Full of strings, timpani drums, choirs, brass and woodwind that genuinely made me stop dead in my tracks, forcing the old lady shopping behind me in Lidl to have to swerve so as not to hit me with her trolley, before track two kicked in and all hell broke loose.

It took me a few moments to get my head around what I was experiencing. Yes, this was blackened death metal, but not as we know it. It wasn’t classic blackened death metal; it was classical music that just happened to be played by a bunch of bastards that are into black and death metal. And that, dear reader, is a massive fucking difference.

Within this swirling maelstrom of throat-ripping vocals, obscene guitar techniques, and a rhythm section that could power a dying sun, lay moments so breathtakingly beautiful and unexpected that you will find yourself struggling to breathe.

There are passages where everything is stripped away. A classic guitar break here, an impassioned string movement there, god dammit there is even a fucking harpsichord amongst the madness, and these moments dial everything back in the way a Wagner opera can.

In fact, I’ll go one better. If Wagner were alive today and composing, Elysia would be something he would look to for inspiration.

There is so much going on that this is a record that demands repeated listening. Not out of some form of obligation, but because you know the second the final notes fade that you have missed so much on your first playthrough. It is the musical equivalent of the Lament Configuration. You cannot help but let it consume you. To become obsessed with discovering what lays beneath. And even while each layer clicks into place, you reason that if razors slash into your skin at the end of your quest and you find yourself a skin sheet for the whims of the damned, then fuck it, it was worth the eternity of agony you will now face.

Sorry… shouldn’t have watched Hellraiser before I started this review.

This is an ambitious record to say the least, though I don’t think that ambitious even begins to cover it. Elysia is Hyperion’s first record in a decade, following up their 2016 debut Seraphical Euphony. Ten years is a long time to keep people waiting in extreme metal, but hearing what’s packed into these grooves, you quickly realise why it took a decade to forge.

The band themselves didn’t mince words about the work they had to put in, stating:

“To make this album a reality has been a titanic effort and we are beyond excited to finally have it released to the world.”

Calling it a “titanic effort” is putting it mildly. You don’t just assemble an album of this scale overnight, and that decade of blood, sweat, and obsession bleeds through every single second of the run time.

This isn’t just a record. This is a reckoning. This is the sound of a band that decided that they were just gonna do what the fuck they wanted and what they wanted was to make a classical album with big fucking guitars and gut-wrenching vocals.

Most bands that call themselves melodic black/death metal think that having a Casio keyboard set to spooky ethereal voice number six is enough to make you think they are mysterious and moody. Hyperion looked at that and just laughed. Probably quite satanically, I would like to think. Before tearing up the rule book and writing one of the most important albums you will hear. Not just of 2026, but ever.

So do yourself a favour. Throw away your preconceived notions of what symphonic or melodic black/death metal is supposed to be, turn the lights off, crank the volume until your skull aches, and let this thing destroy you. Elysia is out November 6th via Willowtip Records. Buy it, stream it, or prepare to be judged by history.