UNLUCKY MORPHEUS violinist Jill has reunited with guitarist Tetsuya Kazuki and pianist Ryo Gojoin for a performance video of “Beginning”, the Castlevania composition from 1989’s “Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse”. The collaboration was announced on 1 November 2026, with the instrumental cover bringing electric guitar, classical and metal violin, and piano into the arrangement.
The track completes Kazuki’s long-running project of covering three of the best-known themes from the Castlevania series. It is also his first return to this particular line of gaming arrangements in around eight years. His earlier version of “Bloody Tears” built a large online audience, passing eight million views on YouTube.
Three instruments, one classic
Kazuki plays electric lead guitar while Jill performs fast, technically demanding violin passages. Gojoin’s piano adds theatrical runs to the arrangement, expanding the source material beyond its original 8-bit sound. The performance updates music composed for Konami by Jun Funahashi, Yukie Morimoto and Hidenori Maezawa, members of the Konami Kukeiha Club.
The video presents “Beginning” as a neoclassical metal performance, with the guitar’s speed set against soaring violin lines and prominent piano parts. The original composition appeared in “Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse”, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989.
Jill’s Unlucky Morpheus years
Jill joined UNLUCKY MORPHEUS in 2017 and plays violin in the Japanese power metal band. She has also performed with Quadratum From Unlucky Morpheus, a related project featuring members of the band and known for heavy metal covers. Her violin work places a technically demanding string instrument at the centre of both projects’ metal arrangements.
Formed in Japan in 2008, UNLUCKY MORPHEUS was founded by vocalist Fuki and multi-instrumentalist Shiren. The band released its latest full-length album, “Gate of Hell”, in 2026, after earlier releases including “Gate of Heaven” and the 2025 single “Sakura Chevalier”. Jill’s work with Kazuki extends the group’s established connection between metal and instrumental performance into video game music.
Gojoin’s piano gives the collaboration a different focus from a standard guitar-led cover, while Jill’s violin keeps the arrangement tied to the band’s sound. The new performance is part of Kazuki’s continuing Castlevania tribute series.
