Personally I think of Eldritch as one of the shining lights of the European Progressive Metal movement that happened in the 1990’s. Displaying their mighty calibre right from the outset in 1995 with debut album “Seeds Of Rage”, already showcasing their own particular brand of Progressive Metal with a slightly darker edge than the more commercial Dream Theater etc, the band continued to blossom on “Headquake” and “El Nino”, before the turn of the millennium saw the band injecting different modern elements into their sound and experimenting with their style. They have continued producing quality material every two or three years since with founding guitarist Eugene Simone still at the helm.
Alongside Simone, last year’s impressive “Eos” saw the keyboardist from those excellent 90’s albums Oleg Smirnoff (currently also in Labyrinth) reunited with original vocalist Terence Holler, but this reunion was short-lived as Holler, after more than 30 years as the band’s distinctively voiced frontman has finally gone on to pastures new and new vocalist Alex Jarusso has taken up the mantle. Holler was a major element that made the band instantly recognizable so how would this next chapter sound without him?
Well…it sounds like Eldritch with a new singer, obviously. But more than that, it seems to have breathed new life into the band. There is a new urgency about Eldritch, with Jarusso’s classic European Metal Ronnie Romero-esque tones suiting the bands style perfectly. There is just as much technicality on offer within “Innervoid” as the band always display, but also alongside an accessibility (without being too commercial) that the band were sometimes lacking. Hints of Borealis and Evergrey suggest themselves in the band’s sound, juxtaposed by touches of current Queensryche, but on the whole a Progressive/Power Metal band such as Eldritch need no comparisons after such a lengthy career and 12 previous studio albums.
There are some excellent tracks on this album, which has a very unified and immersive feel to it. The intricate rhythms drive and shape the songs as the complex guitar and keys paint their sonic picture with a renewed vibrancy that is intoxicating and consistently dynamic, meaning the excellent vocals are then able to crown things off in style. Jarusso has been clever enough to adopt a few vocal mannerisms that you could imagine Holler performing, and gives a nice link to the band’s many previous offerings, but these are easily incorporated into his own excellent, confident, fresh delivery that I’m sure will continue to re-invigorate the band’s song-writing. This isn’t so much a new beginning as a new opportunity for the band and the evidence on “Innervoid” is that they are seizing it with both hands.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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