FANTASY OPUS is a Power/Progressive metal band based out of Lisbon, Portugal that was formed back in 1999 and this is their 2^nd full length record entitled, "The Last Dream"; it was released on June 8^th, 2018 through Pure Steel Records.

One thing that is very evident on the first song is that the drumming of Ricardo Allonzo is extremely crisp and precise on "Ritual Of Blood" and the guitar melodies are strongly reminiscent of HELLOWEEN. The vocals of Leonel Silva remind me in the harsher parts to the ones of Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR).

"Heaven Denied" should definitely please fans of ICED EARTH with its fast picking and in its chorus brings me back to the early days of HAMMERFALL. "Chosen Ones" sounds like its tapping into the soul of Yngwie Malmsteen with some very impressive solos and intelligently transitions into a power/thrash piece of pure metal.

There are some other strong songs here including a nice acoustic ballad entitled "Lust", which is a nice change of pace and "Every Scar Tells A Story", which has a ton of power and emotion and by far some of the heaviest pounding riffs of the entire album. Last, but not least, we have a beautiful and superbly well-composed epic entitled, "The Perfect Storm", that embodies everything good about a power/progressive piece of music; it has nice tempo changes and great keyboard parts and takes you a journey.

Overall, there is a lot of strong material here for a 70+ minute album (note the album reviewed here did not have the last 2 tracks), all of the choruses have a purpose and nothing here is overdone. If you love your power/progressive style, definitely give this album a few listens; you will not be disappointed.Overall: 9<