Masterplan – Metalmorphosis
Masterplan – Metalmorphosis
Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Release date: 26/06/26
Review by: Jon Deaux
7.5/10
Masterplan endured the wilderness for thirteen years before coming up with such a great album. It took me thirteen years of my life to come up with a sourdough starter that is still questionable and unread instructions manuals that I never got around to learning how to use.
Listening to a Masterplan album in 2026 comes across as closer to archaeology than music journalism. You dust off your tools and get ready for a dig. You hope to God that all you dig up is dirt. ‘Novum Initium’ marked the last studio release by Roland Grapow with this band, dropping in 2013 – right around the time smartphones were actually still a novel idea. And there is no understating it: thirteen years is a very long time. Especially when you have power metal fans waking up to an empty ceiling in the early morning hours and realizing that maybe, just maybe, Roland has realized that composing more songs about flying to the stars isn’t exactly how he wants to spend his remaining days on this planet.
But it hasn’t happened. Instead, what Roland Grapow delivers here is Metalmorphosis, and it is… well, it is honestly and unequivocally great.
As the band leader put it, “it’s a transformation but still true to the spirit of Masterplan.” It is a delicate balance. He knows how to do that. After all, he had spent years in Helloween before forming Masterplan in 2001. In fact, the departure from one act to create the other likely involved some passive-aggressive emails. So there’s that. Their first self-titled album was a statement release. ‘Aeronautics’ came next to back that up. And while everything after that wasn’t groundbreaking, it showed that consistency and evolution are two things that can coexist peacefully, which is far more than most marriages have achieved.
Here, Rick Altzi takes care of vocals, and it’s one of those castings that makes you ask why it didn’t happen earlier. This guy is clearly meant for it. His voice captures all the best aspects of traditional power metal in its high notes without veering into the sort of operatic nonsense that makes many subgenre efforts come across as if you have walked into a Renaissance festival and somebody is just going to let you find your way out eventually.
‘Chase The Light’ sets the stage right from the start. It does exactly what a proper opening track should: it grabs you and holds on tight without letting go. The riff is immediate, the melody memorable, and you forget any doubt you may have felt before the song started.
‘Electric Nights’ marks the point where Masterplan decides to just keep moving forward and never look back. It brings a comfortable and confident mid-tempo pace to the table, as opposed to one where things just slow down because you have run out of ideas. It’s a subtle difference. But an important one.
Speaking of guitar playing, Grapow nails it again here. Power metal leads must straddle the line between sounding impressive without coming across as an exercise in techniques that would fit equally well in a practice session. He manages that with ease, creating memorable riffs without sacrificing anything to the technical aspect.
‘The Shadow Man’ and ‘Bound To Fall’ represent the core of the record emotionally. They are two tracks where the progressive element comes through in full force. They have depth, and they evolve. They are not just songs that appear and disappear. Jari Kainulainen and Kevin Kott take care of rhythm guitar and drums, respectively. Both of them play at the exact right level: busy enough to keep you interested and not distracting you from the song’s actual purpose.
‘Pain Of Yesterday’ does exactly what you expect it to do – it takes you somewhere uncomfortable and stays there for a while without jumping to the easy resolution right away. It’s probably the closest you will get to actual doom here, and that in terms of emotional impact rather than actual tempo. Keyboard playing on this track by Axel Mackenrott reaches the right balance of atmosphere and melody that a number of keyboardists in this genre have yet to achieve.
The title track is both the musical and the philosophical manifesto of the album, in the form of a song. Masterplan takes what they have learned since the inception and applies it in this piece. It shows that the experience that the members acquired in the meantime translates well into heavy music and makes them sound different – better, even.
‘Ghostlight’ features Masterplan’s most overtly melodic side, and doesn’t apologize for it. Because it is the right choice. And for the love of God, if you’re playing power metal and embarrassed by your anthem, you’ve made the wrong decision. ‘The Call’ follows in the wake of the former track and forms a powerful second half of the album.
‘Closer’ ‘Rise Again’ concludes things here. On its album version, anyway, it satisfyingly closes the circle.
The only criticism that comes to mind: there are times when the band plays it too safe. Understandable after thirteen years, but a little frustrating considering what they have to work with. Masterplan prefers reliability over revelation in this case. A few more chances taken, and this could’ve been not just a very good album, but a truly great one. But very good, after thirteen years of absence, deserves recognition in its own right.
Tracklist:
1. Chase The Light
2. Electric Nights
3. Shadow Man
4. Bound To Fall
5. Pain Of Yesterday
6. Metalmorphosis
7. Through The Storm
8. Ghostlight
9. The Call
10. Rise Again (Album vers.)
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