InnerWish is a Hellenic heavy/power metal band with a very remarkable presence, and if you have been keeping track of their progress, you can be nothing less than proud that they are part of the Hellenic scene since the 90’s. Having  released in the past 3 high quality full length albums, with “Inner Strength” of 2006 being the most recent among them, this year’s release “No Turning back” was one of the most anticipated albums of the year, at least as far as I am concerned.

So after an anticipation of 4 years, last March they signed with the Swedish “Ulterium Records” and “No Turning Back” was officially released on May 28. The mixing of the album was performed by Fredrik Nordstrom [In Flames, Hammerfall, Dimmu Borgir] at Fredman Studio and the mastering at Finnvox Studios by Mika Jussila [Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Stratovarius].

The result is totally amazing! The album consists of 12 incredible songs which combine melodic lines with dynamic power metal moments, while the mixing and production couldn’t be any better, leaving behind us once and for all the bad memories of the past, where we used to say (especially for the Hellenic bands) ”yeah, great songs, too bad the production does a great damage instead of helping them…” All 12 compositions are of high quality, with beautiful orchestration, solid guitars and amazing solos, leading drums and base lines, while the voice of their vocalist Babis, not only is he among the best in Hellas, but also he has improved even more his technique, range and the lyricism in his performance. The keyboards are also a very successful filling in every song’s atmosphere. The album is meticulous and very well taken care of to its every last detail. My only personal objection is that here we find more euro-power elements regarding their previous albums, like in the beginner “The Sign Of Our Lives” and in “Welcome To My World”, which while it starts as an InnerWish classic, in its chorus we find some very obvious Blind Guardian influences. I personally believe that it is much more fitting to their style to follow more epic, lyrical and progressive paths with more mid-tempo lines, like the extra ordinary “Sirens” with the prevailing chorus. Other remarkable tracks (that doesn’t mean that there is even one mediocre song on the cd) are “Kingdom Of Our Prime” with the unique oriental intro and the incredible vocal performance, “Burning Desires”, which is the first video clip of the album, “Chosen One”, “Save Us, and the fabulous, sentimental ballad “Live For My Own”, which reminded me - in comparison that it is only vocals and piano- the also outstanding performance of Geoff  Tate in the acoustic version of “Someone Else” of the “Promised Land” album.

I don’t know what is your opinion for the Hellenic metal scene, which unfortunately has an unfairly poor acceptance among worldwide audiences even within its own country, but this release should definitely make all those think it over, since it has come to blow your cd players and stay there for a long time. What I can promise you with certainty, is that InnerWish have created one of the best albums for 2010, which has all the right elements to stay in history as a classic, and I don’t mean only inside the Hellenic borders of course!