VELVET THUNDER

Inner Stream is a female fronted rock band hailing from Argentina with roots going back to 2008 when singer Inés Vera Ortiz and her brother, Jorge, began putting songs together in Buenos Aires that didn’t quite fit the power metal band that they were both in at the time. We then have to fast forward to 2020 when Ortiz signed with Frontiers, a move that both parties are very much pleased with. Ortiz has very much kept her power/symphonic roots but has also absorbed a healthy dose too of Goth rock and this debut release will most certainly appeal to the fans of groups like Evanescence, Within Temptation, Delain, Lacuna Coil and Sirenia. She has surrounded herself with some exceptional musicians in Andrea Seveso on guitar, Guillermo De Medio on keyboards and programming, Nicholas Papapicco on drums and Mitia Maccaferri on bass and together they make a pretty awesome team.

The first thing that you notice is the incredible voice of Inés Vera Ortiz as she has such a huge and powerful range and can go as deep as the ocean and the next moment he voice is soaring stratospherically high. There is a beauty, clarity and a sense of destructive power about her voice that will ensure that we will all be raving about her for many years to come as she is the very definition of class. This is a very emotional album as she definitely sings from the heart and manages to caress your soul in a way very few others can and this makes her something most remarkable and be cherished.

Stain The Sea is a little more than the usual Goth flavoured symphonic rock that so many bands offer as there is a real kick to it which is no doubt inspired by Ortiz’s love of the bands with a bigger sound like Symphony X, Angra, Disturbed and even Massive Attack. She has used many of these bands to inspire her in her song writing so you get an album built on a more metal platform but with plenty of melodic and Goth elements to give it a tighter and more surreal edge. The riffs are powerful and darkly portentous with some amazing guitar and all to a spine tingling keyboard backing that makes the music so special. It would have been so easy to make this just a vehicle for the incredible vocal talents of Inés Vera Ortiz and that would have been a fine record too but she has more about her than that so what we have here is a perfect, all rounded and fully developed symphonic rock album that is nothing short of magnificent.

Great songs, outstanding playing, a beautiful and crisp production job and a singer who is off the scale in terms of brilliance make Stain The Sea an album that you simply have to hear, first class throughout.