InnerWish is a power metal band from Athens, Greece, which will be celebrating 30 years on stage next year. Their sixth full-length album is coming out with the longest gap of more than eight years after their self-titled release came out. Ash Of Eternal Flame has some big expectations to fulfill, because InnerWish from 2016 was an amazing slab of melodic, but heavy, power metal, with great choruses and big-sounding riffs.
The band line-up is exactly the same as in the last album, so the first good piece of news is here already. The fantastic artwork is created by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design with Henrik Udd (Studio Fredman) responsible for the mix and mastering. Forevermore starts with an EPIC melody and riff, attacking the listener’s senses from the first seconds, but the real revelation comes after two minutes when the bombastic chorus simply blew me away. Yes, these guys have done it again. The second song is equally good, with another fantastic melody and chorus with the icing on the cake being the guest spot by Hansi Kürsch, who shares vocals with George Eikosipentakis. The double guitar harmony at 4:03 is goosebumps-inducing stuff. Marvelous! Higher is a bit more straightforward and restrained in its approach, while the following Torn Asunder dials up the heaviness factor again, bringing to mind prime Brainstorm, but with much better choruses and melodies.
Primal Scream wastes no time and makes you hum the main melody from the first few seconds, with fists clenched with excitement. The ability of InnerWish to craft a song that stays in your mind and makes you press replay again and again is unbelievable. Where are these choruses coming from? The title track sounds bombastic, powerful, crushing with both the musical wall of sound and the expressive, emotional vocals. Here, I have to place some big praise towards the two original band members – guitarists Manolis Tsigos and Thimios Krikos, who are shredding mercilessly a killer riff after a killer riff. We have some choral singing here as well, which is also true for the next song Cretan Warriors – another winner. Then, The Hands Of Doom, is more mid-tempo, straightforward, stomping on with another hymnal, sing-along chorus, backed by a more prominent keyboard presence. By this point I have started to think there’s no way the final three songs are as good as the ones so far – they have to take the step off the pedal dammit …… but no. Simply no. Once Again serves as the album’s power semi-ballad, with probably the most emotional, personal message and gentle performance, but no less striking in musical delivery. I Walk Alone is an absolute power metal hymn – a total, true, by-the-rules metal masterclass. Goosebumps all over again – no joke!
This metal tornado of an album ends with the excellent, heavy and muscular anthem Breathe and a really good cover of Blackfoot’s Send Me An Angel, which ends proceedings in an uplifting way. What more can I add? The Greeks have gone berserk this year, with excellent albums from the same country falling left and right in all possible genres, but InnerWish have shown a stellar class, being better in every department. Ash Of Eternal Flame is a celebration of metal which should be experienced by every fan and a guaranteed listening pleasure. These eight years of waiting have been crowned with the band’s best music so far. Album of the year? You bet!
10/10
Ash Of Eternal Flame is out on November 8th via RPM and can be ordered from HERE
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