INNERWISH – “Ash of eternal flame” (2024)

If there is one thing noone can deny, is the evolution of the Greek Power/Heavy Metallers INNERWISH. They get better with each album, with the first big improvement being shown in 2010’s “No turning back”. After a change of vocalist, they returned in 2016 with their self titled album where they showcased virtues of a global band. Eight years may be a lot, but good stuff need time to cook, so the time has finally come for us to enjoy the group’s sixth full length work. The first good news was their enlisting in the roster of Reigning Phoenix Music, which combined with the impressive artwork hinted that the band’s rise has not encountered its ceiling yet!

The first single ‘Sea of lies’ was enough to prove that “Ash of eternal flame” would be a monster record. You may have already heard it, a song that features the legendary bard Hansi Kurch. While him accepting to participate as a guest is truly an honor for INNERWISH, I bet that he was also honored to have sung in a composition like this. Of course that is only the tip of the iceberg as the record is rich in new music with eleven original tracks (+1 cover). The question is if the quality of the rest is on par with ‘Sea of lies’ and while that ranks among the best moments, it is anything but a corner case.

The entire tracklist shares some common characteristics. Speed is not one of the attributes that define the album (with some exceptions here and there), but whatever the songs lack in that department they reimburse by sounding very heavy with riffs coming to life like a rock slide. Think something in the veins of TAD MOROSE or early period FIREWIND. The performance of vocalist George Eikosipentakis is very mature with him avoiding unnecessary theatrics. While the backbone of the music mostly leads to a Heavy Metal result, the choruses are very hymnic, a characteristic of the Power Metal genre.

Occasionaly there is some inclusion of orchestrations such in the title track, but not to the excess that I would call the result Symphonic Metal. What however is used in an exemplary way are the choirs/backing vocals. They are really one of the best iterations I have encountered in a record, with the crown moment being found in ‘Cretan warriors’. And then comes ‘The hands of doom’ combining both elements with a chorus sounding like THERION at their best, not that there is any strong musical corellation between the two, but I want to showcase how good every little detail is! The fun thing is that even when you have heard all great stuff till that point and would think that the band will stumble at some point, it does not happen.

With “Ash of eternal flame” INNERWISH prove that studio-wise they belong up there among the leaders of the genre, as their new album can proudly stand eye to eye with any other release. It is not suggested to their core fan base. No, it is suggested to any Heavy Metal fan that wants to experience an outstanding album that will grab them from the first note. Keeping up with all music output is impossible so if you had to focus only on a selected few releases, apart from your favorite bands INNERWISH is the definite choice!

92/100

Pavlos Pavlakis