Visions of Morpheus is a progressive metal band hailing from Oshawa, Ontario, that began as the solo project of frontman Jeff Pearson before evolving into a full-fledged ensemble. With their debut album Lost Within, Visions of Morpheus has unleashed a fusion of symphonic, progressive, and metal elements. In this conversation, Pearson offers an inside look at the inspirations behind Lost Within, the hurdles of turning their vision into reality, and the evolution of the band’s sound.
Visions of Morpheus started as a solo project before evolving into a full band. What inspired you to expand it and bring other musicians into the fold?
It really came down to having a closer connection to fans and not just having the music exist online. I was putting a lot of work into the songs and it seemed like a shame to not get it out into the venues – to get the audience feedback for that shared moment you get between yourself and the listener. And while I do mainly all the writing, I still wanted to bounce ideas off my band mates and have a connection you only get when you’re all in a band together… It just takes it out into the real world with everyone working together to make it the best that it can be.
The debut album Lost Within is deeply themed around dreams and nightmares. How did this theme influence both the lyrics and the musical compositions of the album?
I like to paint mental imagery in people and make it as immersive as possible. Similar to how you experience a good book or a movie. The album explores the depths of fear, horror, mystery and the fantastical. Obviously that’s also reflected in the lyrics that have to match the music. Everything from the tone of the guitars and bass, what the vocals were to sound like – it was all a big learning curve as is the case when any band is first starting out and trying to find their sound. I also spent a lot of time on the keyboards trying to really capture the right blend of tones to represent night, darkness and a sense of wonder, etc. For example, you can hear a theremin used in the album’s title track that just has that timbre you can’t get from anything else. A lot of tones are atmospheric and evoke a certain mood or feeling. With some of the more power metal type songs I went more traditional and kept it symphonic in nature since that works best. The Leslie organ is also implemented for that classic ’70s prog that I am rather fond of – evokes feelings of nostalgia and power.There’s also the breath sounds in “Medusa” and that whole song is a bit of a nod to Symphony X who are masters of storytelling, and is one of our longer compositions with various sections, textures and a grand finish.
With influences like Symphony X, Dream Theater, and Iron Maiden, how did you manage to blend those iconic sounds into your own unique approach to progressive metal?
It was definitely something I wanted to incorporate in various songs whether it’s a guitar harmonies and the vocal gymnastics for Iron Maiden (I love to belt out the notes) to the aggression of the guitar lines for Symphony X to the progressive keys and time signatures of Dream Theater, plus the songs that are a bit longer than the usual – around 6-7 minutes. We don’t have any 15-20 minute songs. I don’t think we will ever go to that extreme in today’s short attention spans. People already comment that some of our songs are too long though it’s just part of the genre.
Can you talk a bit about the songwriting process for Lost Within? How did you balance the symphonic, progressive, and metal elements in each track?
Some of it is just about like you said, balance. It depends on the song what the overall vibe was going to be. So some lean more symphonic if it’s a big epic whereas those songs that are more about the mental aspect of nightmares and dreams have more keys, soundscapes and other elements. The more progressive songs incorporate a mix of classic ’70s prog and modern keys. It took a lot of experimenting to see what would work on a song by song basis since I wanted each to have its own flavor where possible and I think we achieved that. In “Watch the World Burn,” there is a santoor because it just seemed to work and is an instrument you rarely hear in metal. I have a tendency to build too many layers sometimes so when it came time to mix it would happen that there was a loss of focus with so many choices so there were a number that were removed to make it work better. It’s always about the song and melodies first, never about the shredding initially.
Sometimes your best ideas come when you’re not at the computer and you have to sort of hum the idea into your phone so you don’t forget it. This happened a lot and was a great way to come up with variations and melodies. I also wanted to focus on having a real sense of energy and power in a lot of the songs. I like the contrast of slower sections but I’ve always been drawn to faster tempos. I try to use the keys to change up the overall musical palette when needed and it’s just a matter of what the song says to me. Does it need more energy here, or less, tempo change or a change in time signature? I did try to not get into too many long drawn out solos but tried instead to balance that with thematic motifs and contrasting sections. You can’t go full out for a long stretch without becoming bored so I just tried to make things flow and keep it interesting. Also, we didn’t have a ballad on the album really so “Cloak of the Night” was the last song I wrote and it came together surprisingly fast for me. It has a number of key changes and sections that are similar but different to each other to give that sense of uncertainty and mental struggle.
Lost Within promises a journey through the realms of the subconscious. Which song on the album do you feel most effectively captures this concept?
Definitely the title track – it takes you on a journey within and also explores Morpheus himself, although from a darker standpoint. The cool stuff is in nightmares anyways. The song has the odd time signatures, reversed/whispered vocals, a theremin, a haunting vocal melody that certainly speaks to my own dream experiences. I also really like the keyboard sounds and the epic sounding chord changes in the middle section. It just sounds so mysterious and very dreamlike to me with a sense of tortured introspection and not being able to trust what you see. Even the lyrics are playing with reality vs perception.
As the band’s frontman, how do you approach both the vocal and instrumental aspects of your music? Do you find one more challenging than the other?
Certainly the vocal aspect is quite challenging as it’s all new. I’ve been singing most of my life but more in the background and the occasional lead. Lyrics can take quite a long time as can finding the right vocal melody and phrasing. With the music itself it can take a lot of work to find the right groove. I often will sketch out ideas quickly then try and get a verse, pre-chorus, chorus happening. Then I look at each section and make changes where needed and refine. There are times when the section just doesn’t work and I end up rewriting it altogether. Then when vocals come in it can change again so there’s a lot of experimentation.
This is actually the first time I am fronting a band so crafting the lyrical melody was important to ensure I could actually sing it. Which is something I had to keep working on to build up vocal endurance, and with the material being more challenging I decided to take vocal lessons so that I was in a good place and not doing things that would damage my voice in the long term.
With the addition of Javish Soriano on guitar, how has the dynamic within the band changed, and how did his recent joining influence the band’s live sound and future direction?
We have always had a second guitar player but we lost our last one before recording and then Javish came in after we had finished the album. We enjoy his sense of humor and he’s always singing something at practice – like operatic style and we get a kick out of it. He learned the material fairly fast which was great as we had the album release a few months after he joined and he delivered for us. He’s been great for background vocals.
The album’s release party was on November 18th at Whisky Johns in Oshawa. What was it like performing these songs live? How did you translate the complexity of the album to the stage?
It was exciting and nerve racking of course. We use tracks for the keyboard and sound fx as we have struggled to find anyone local who can play this stuff. Keyboard players are unicorns and always in high demand. We had performed a few shows before this, but since we were in between guitar players from when we started writing it was a lot of work to also integrate a new member since our music is more technical and we all have to gel. Having two guitarists in the band is mandatory since there are a number of parts to cover, trading solos, harmonies, etc. Combined with the keys gets us pretty close. We also started programming a custom light show to run off our laptop when we headline a gig so the lights are synced up which helps in telling the story as well.
Lost Within represents your first full album as Visions of Morpheus. What did you learn during the making of this album that you didn’t expect when you started the project?
The immense time and effort that goes into everything is significant. Being quite particular often makes the process even longer. Coordinating people’s schedules over winter when we were laying down drums got delayed a few times with snow storms. You have to listen to everything so much throughout the process and there were certain parts that weren’t working properly when you listen to them in isolation with other parts but can be masked when listening to the whole mix. This was mainly in keyboard parts. Since I recorded all the vocals, keys and guitars it was quite an undertaking and I got burnt out for sure. The mixing took a lot longer than I thought as well since we had to figure out what effects worked best, getting the right balance between all the elements, etc. And, of course, creating the music is just the beginning—the real work is in the promotion.
How do you hope Lost Within will impact listeners, especially those who are familiar with the progressive metal genre?
I hope it transports listeners back to the early days of progressive and symphonic metal, taking them on a journey through the stories woven into each song. Some are deeply personal yet universally relatable, while others delve into tales of the past. Music is about escapism, so the hope is that people would forget about ordinary life and problems and just have a shared experience with us.
Your music explores both the wonder and terror of the subconscious. How do you balance these contrasting emotions in your music and lyrics?
It all comes down to classic tension and release—crafting an ebb and flow that reflects the emotional scope of each song. Every track has an arc, where sections build and then resolve. The verses typically serve as the narrative, detailing the story, while the chorus delivers the core message. As the song progresses, that message grows in intensity and depth, mirroring the emotional journey. I usually add or reduce the number of instruments to fit the narrative. It’s also about finding the best sounds/instrumentation for each song section. So in “Medusa,” we have horns that appear when Perseus arrives and we use a hammond organ for when Medusa is transformed to show her sense of both majesty and terror. In a song like Beyond, we have some unusual effects on the guitar solo where things get more sparse but brings it more into focus. Lyrically as you introduce more tension the lyrics become more intense and use darker imagery.
What role does your local scene in Oshawa play in the band’s development and success? How important is it for you to connect with local fans?
We certainly couldn’t succeed as well without local support. It really helps to have people spread the word from your home base. There is a decent music scene locally but more venues are closing and with fewer opportunities to play you have to be willing to travel more depending how often you want to play.
With Visions of Morpheus poised to make a mark in progressive metal, what are the band’s goals for the next few years? Will we see more concept albums, or do you plan to experiment with new sounds and ideas?
The next album is probably 65% done and is a bit of a departure into more of a modern sound and more complex arrangements, all the stuff you learn as you progress.The next album will be conceptual for sure but rather than 20 min songs we may split them up into different parts that tie into each other.
Finally, what does the name Visions of Morpheus mean to you personally, and how does it reflect your artistic vision for the band?
The name Morpheus, the Greek god of Dreams, came about as a means to provide us with a launching pad of free musical expression evoking a sense of wonder, mystery and storytelling on a grand scale. Our music covers a lot of ground so I didn’t want to be restricted to narrow definitions or directions. It’s basically the dreams and visions of the god of dreams so it’s pretty wide open.
Stream Lost Within on Bandcamp. Follow Visions of Morpheus on Facebook and Instagram.
