InnerWish
InnerWish
Ulterium Records
2016
InnerWish are one of the longest running “newer” metal bands, coming into existence in 1995 and working with little periods of inactivity since then, on promoting themselves and their music. A cut above a lot of the local bands and quite low profile, the band after having to replace a drummer and a singer returns after a while with its fifth offering, an eponymous album that seeks to restore them in the listeners preferences.
This is possibly the band’s most professional attempt, as both new members (who by now have been with the band for a while and have gelled) seem to be very able to cover their predecessors places and then some. Terry Moros might have been with the band for a very long time, but Fragiskos Samoilis is both adept as well as more up to date, without sounding “modern”, the drum sound is pretty good if not a little dry, but feels appropriate. George Eikosipentakis is way better and more appropriate than the band’s former singer Babis Alexandropoulos, who might have had a nice voice and even to be furthering a career as a classic tenor, but was both less “metallic” and had a bit of a trace of an accent. This line-up has released a couple of covers on magazine compilations on Sabbath and Warlord tunes and now returns with a new album, the true test of their “chemistry”.
And they seem to pass it with flying colors. Their mix of American power metal riffs over European melodies is not that much changed, but both the vocals and the production make it “harder” edged and more akin to “classic metal” with strong lyrical choruses.
“Roll the Dice” opens things up with a thick riff, something of a bastard child between Vicious Rumors and Tad Morose, if you will. It’s both edgy and melodic and the vocals, despite not being piercingly high, are masculine & full and the band pull all stops to impress, including a rather brilliant solo.
“Broken” is more rhythmical and slightly more aggressive, without however losing its appeal as its bridge and chorus bring to mind both Tunisian Metallers Myrath as well as Norway’s awesome prog heroes Conception at their heaviest.
“Modern Babylon” goes for a more Dio-esque tone, but retains the edge and aggression in its riffs that make it come across as a lot heavier than you might be led to believe.
And while keeping the tempo to medium can sometimes literally make some albums unbearable to listen, especially if the songwriting is not strong and there’s little variation, Innerwish manage to do the fourth song and still keep things interesting… again they have a nice solo that’s actually not simple finger twiddling, for the sake of “having something there”, but actually feels like an integral part of the song that belongs, where it appears. Oh yeah “Machines of Fear” is thick and heavy, just like Tad Morose mixed with Kamelot’s lyrical moments and then given an anvil to hold. (imagine wild.e.koyote falling down a chasm here – that heavy!)
“Needles in My Mind” has a faster galloping rhythm, which is fortunate, as it manages to keep things interesting, without having to try too hard. Not that it needs to, anyway.
“My World on Fire” is nice, but the multiple vocals and the melodies sound a little derivative of a more adult Firewind and Kamelot here, and the guitars that keep on chugging along with the doubled vocals crowd things up a bit in the mix that could have had a better balance on this particular song.
‘m a little surprised that “Rain of a Thousand Years” is not opening this album as it’s hard, heavy and has an urgent tone and a rousing rhythm. Excellent hymnal chorus, it was rightly chosen as a “first taste” from the album, although it’s not entirely representative of it. Also it’s nice to see,a choir (real one) being used sparingly and wisely adding to the “symphonic” effect that complements the compositions w/o drowning them out, with useless choral parts, just to show off the fact that someone was paid (or not) to do “that”.
“Serenity” is both heavy and even slightly sinister and has a somewhat prog air that is reminiscent of Kamelot at their metallic “prime”, before they went all safe and slightly generic.
“Sins of the Past” rips up the covers with some sharp guitar riffs and a very nice effort to differentiate the style a bit, even if it stays still within the constraints of power metal… but intelligent power metal at that. It’s interesting to see that Innerwish compositionally succeed where some more “famous” scene names seem to fail, maybe overestimating their abilities, or spending themselves over endless tour cycles.
“Through My Eyes” stomps with an authoritative riff that’s pretty classic, backed by some nice keys… Eikosipentakis probably goes a little overboard, trying to be expressive and the production betrays him a little on the lower and more difficult parts, but it’s still a pretty amazing tune, with an extended abridged chorus…
I was going to complain that the piano sound is probably a little electric and not “grand” on the opening of “Zero Ground”, but as soon as the guitars came along, I went – screw that, this one is pretty “good”… while it retains all the Innerwish trademarks, it has something melodic and symphonic, sounding a bit like Virgin Steele (when they flirted with melodic rock) but all that is meant as a compliment. Great track, one of the better on the album actually!
And while I thought OK that was probably a last “hurrah” the band comes up with a superb ballad in the form of “Cross the Line” with Eikosipentakis actually sounding “spotless” here. If you like things like Accept’s “The King”, this one almost manages to duplicate the feel of that tune… wow.
Lastly, we have the very symphonic “Tame the Seven Seas”, which begins with the choir, really sounding “fab” and unlike any “key sampled” choir would ever do and Mr. “Half 50 Cent” really continuing being on a roll, from the previous ballad and managing quite effortlessly to go from soft to full on lyrical metal. The choir also lends the middle parts, a Savatage air, without “copying” the great Floridians, but creatively putting into use their “teachings”. Probably one of the better songs by any Greek band in the last decade and really blowing out of the water, over half of what’s out there on a Pan-European level in terms of composition and even execution…
This is gonna be pretty simple, if you like your metal old school, but not palaeolithic and aggressive, but not brutish, with a touch of elegance and intelligence… you can hardly go wrong with Innerwish’s latest homonymous release! Bravo! Albums like this, yeah, I’d totally stand behind and recommend wholeheartedly.
This is possibly the band’s most professional attempt, as both new members (who by now have been with the band for a while and have gelled) seem to be very able to cover their predecessors places and then some. Terry Moros might have been with the band for a very long time, but Fragiskos Samoilis is both adept as well as more up to date, without sounding “modern”, the drum sound is pretty good if not a little dry, but feels appropriate. George Eikosipentakis is way better and more appropriate than the band’s former singer Babis Alexandropoulos, who might have had a nice voice and even to be furthering a career as a classic tenor, but was both less “metallic” and had a bit of a trace of an accent. This line-up has released a couple of covers on magazine compilations on Sabbath and Warlord tunes and now returns with a new album, the true test of their “chemistry”.
And they seem to pass it with flying colors. Their mix of American power metal riffs over European melodies is not that much changed, but both the vocals and the production make it “harder” edged and more akin to “classic metal” with strong lyrical choruses.
“Roll the Dice” opens things up with a thick riff, something of a bastard child between Vicious Rumors and Tad Morose, if you will. It’s both edgy and melodic and the vocals, despite not being piercingly high, are masculine & full and the band pull all stops to impress, including a rather brilliant solo.
“Broken” is more rhythmical and slightly more aggressive, without however losing its appeal as its bridge and chorus bring to mind both Tunisian Metallers Myrath as well as Norway’s awesome prog heroes Conception at their heaviest.
“Modern Babylon” goes for a more Dio-esque tone, but retains the edge and aggression in its riffs that make it come across as a lot heavier than you might be led to believe.
And while keeping the tempo to medium can sometimes literally make some albums unbearable to listen, especially if the songwriting is not strong and there’s little variation, Innerwish manage to do the fourth song and still keep things interesting… again they have a nice solo that’s actually not simple finger twiddling, for the sake of “having something there”, but actually feels like an integral part of the song that belongs, where it appears. Oh yeah “Machines of Fear” is thick and heavy, just like Tad Morose mixed with Kamelot’s lyrical moments and then given an anvil to hold. (imagine wild.e.koyote falling down a chasm here – that heavy!)
“Needles in My Mind” has a faster galloping rhythm, which is fortunate, as it manages to keep things interesting, without having to try too hard. Not that it needs to, anyway.
“My World on Fire” is nice, but the multiple vocals and the melodies sound a little derivative of a more adult Firewind and Kamelot here, and the guitars that keep on chugging along with the doubled vocals crowd things up a bit in the mix that could have had a better balance on this particular song.
‘m a little surprised that “Rain of a Thousand Years” is not opening this album as it’s hard, heavy and has an urgent tone and a rousing rhythm. Excellent hymnal chorus, it was rightly chosen as a “first taste” from the album, although it’s not entirely representative of it. Also it’s nice to see,a choir (real one) being used sparingly and wisely adding to the “symphonic” effect that complements the compositions w/o drowning them out, with useless choral parts, just to show off the fact that someone was paid (or not) to do “that”.
“Serenity” is both heavy and even slightly sinister and has a somewhat prog air that is reminiscent of Kamelot at their metallic “prime”, before they went all safe and slightly generic.
“Sins of the Past” rips up the covers with some sharp guitar riffs and a very nice effort to differentiate the style a bit, even if it stays still within the constraints of power metal… but intelligent power metal at that. It’s interesting to see that Innerwish compositionally succeed where some more “famous” scene names seem to fail, maybe overestimating their abilities, or spending themselves over endless tour cycles.
“Through My Eyes” stomps with an authoritative riff that’s pretty classic, backed by some nice keys… Eikosipentakis probably goes a little overboard, trying to be expressive and the production betrays him a little on the lower and more difficult parts, but it’s still a pretty amazing tune, with an extended abridged chorus…
I was going to complain that the piano sound is probably a little electric and not “grand” on the opening of “Zero Ground”, but as soon as the guitars came along, I went – screw that, this one is pretty “good”… while it retains all the Innerwish trademarks, it has something melodic and symphonic, sounding a bit like Virgin Steele (when they flirted with melodic rock) but all that is meant as a compliment. Great track, one of the better on the album actually!
And while I thought OK that was probably a last “hurrah” the band comes up with a superb ballad in the form of “Cross the Line” with Eikosipentakis actually sounding “spotless” here. If you like things like Accept’s “The King”, this one almost manages to duplicate the feel of that tune… wow.
Lastly, we have the very symphonic “Tame the Seven Seas”, which begins with the choir, really sounding “fab” and unlike any “key sampled” choir would ever do and Mr. “Half 50 Cent” really continuing being on a roll, from the previous ballad and managing quite effortlessly to go from soft to full on lyrical metal. The choir also lends the middle parts, a Savatage air, without “copying” the great Floridians, but creatively putting into use their “teachings”. Probably one of the better songs by any Greek band in the last decade and really blowing out of the water, over half of what’s out there on a Pan-European level in terms of composition and even execution…
This is gonna be pretty simple, if you like your metal old school, but not palaeolithic and aggressive, but not brutish, with a touch of elegance and intelligence… you can hardly go wrong with Innerwish’s latest homonymous release! Bravo! Albums like this, yeah, I’d totally stand behind and recommend wholeheartedly.