photo by Soft Neon Audiovisualin/Jerkka Perälä; photo courtesy of Inverse Records

Single Review of Memoira – “Ikigai (Memories)” (Inverse Records)

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some good symphonic, progressive metal here at the blog. Well, I can be perhaps a little too picky when I choose what to review this genre, but I definitely have a good one for you tonight. Finnish soaring power-rockers Memoira serve up an engaging, catchy song with “Ikigai (Memories),” a song that mostly lives in the stratosphere but also features some crunch machine-gun-tempo guitarwork in a couple spots.

image courtesy of Inverse Records

Krista Astrid Schröter (vocals) delivers the sternly earnest yet tunefully booming vocals, while the song powers forward in a 4 1/2 minutes that just seems to fly by thanks to the musicianship of Lassi Nuolivaara (keyboards, piano), Serdar Ilter (guitars), Niko Laaksonen (bass), and Kimmo Puhakka (drums).

The song itself encourages the listeners to live their lives, with lyrics like “Let the rain wash away all your pain. Life can end in just one day. Make those memories, make those memories last” delivering its message a little abruptly – or, perhaps, directly – but with solid melodic power.

If you’re a fan of musical transitions, about a minute, there’s a nifty “ah, ah” vocal transition, and a little past the song’s midpoint, there’s a musical bridge where the keys and guitars break things down and recalibrate the song’s sound a bit before launching back into the chorus and the song’s closing stanzas.

If you’re a fan of symphonic, edgy, hard-rocking progressive metal, Memoira is a band you should hear. And “Ikigai (Memories)” is a fantastic place to start.