Review | Eldritch – Innervoid

Scarlet Records

It has been a long time ago since I heard an album by the Italian prog metal band Eldritch, in fact I only “know” their albums ‘Headquake’ (1997) and ‘El Nino’ (1998), so it really has been a while… ‘Innervoid’ is Eldritch’s thirteenth album and it features the new frontman/vocalist Alex Jarusso and I have to say that his voice is an asset to the band. 

ELDRITCH HAS A STRONG AND POWERFUL BASE

The music of Eldritch is a blend of power metal and prog metal, in fact they have a real power metal base and power metal characteristics, but they add some 100% prog metal elements to that strong and powerful base. Just listen to the fourth track of the album called ,,Elegy Of Lust” and you will hear that mix of power metal and prog metal, the latter obviously being the keyboard melodies, almost sounding classical. ,,Wings Of Emptiness” is a true power ballad and honestly, I feel it is a rather mediocre, too predictable song. It sounds too much alike any other power metal ballad, so rather superfluous here, in my humble opinion. 

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE ALBUM

The longest track, clocking in over seven minutes is called ,,Handful Of Sand (right or wrong)” and for me that is the highlight of this album as it is really aggressive, emotional, and musically rather diverse. However, a track like ,,From The Stars” is again a true disappointment as it is a true run of the power metal mill, so you must skip that one to really enjoy this album. But ‘Innervoid’ is certainly not a bad album, as it features soaring vocals, outstanding guitar work and some nice prog metal elements, but I am afraid that this new album of Eldritch will be lost in the thousands of new metal releases as the competition in the music business is really hard. I also preferred the old albums of Eldritch, but that is just my opinion and as you know there is no account for taste… 

So, give ‘Innervoid’ a chance if you like bands like Caligula’s Horse or Nevermore, and play it LOUD!!!

Release date: 17 November 2023