EXLIBRIS – Innertia
July 18, 2018, 5 years ago
(Independent)
First encounter with the Polish bunch, who teeter between hard driving rock and melodic metal, accented by symphonic arrangements. They can best be described as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep mixed with Treat and modern Stratovarius and yes the combination is as good as it sounds. Fourth album Innertia introduces Finnish singer Riku Turunen to the fold and what an impact he makes utilizing some major pipes and increasing the trajectory of the 11 cuts.
After a brief intro depicting a countdown of sorts, (“Innertia”), “Harmony Of The Spheres” roars in and showcases the range of Turunen complimenting the expertly put together string of up-tempo riffs. Check out that keyboard solo (Deep Purple would be proud) in “Gravity” and the part where Turunen yells “The spirit never dies!” is truly gratifying. Quite an impressive start! The modern day Startovarius-like “Shoot For The Sun” with the tinkling piano is 3-minute masterpiece of melodic metal.
Exlibris keep the momentum flowing with inspired tracks like the driving “Gravity”, featuring multiple layers of instruments and Turunen delivering a David Coverdale like voice in piano outro. The defiant “No Shelter” possesses the most incredible chorus, colored by violins and a piano arrangement. Top notch track! “Amorphous” introduces a robotic effect to the vocals before being relegated to “meh” status. Proceedings pick up again with “Origins Of Decay” and Exlibris knows how to pump in the symphonic elements without letting them be the forefront. An empowering chorus, chewy riff, and memorable solo make this a winner. The last three tracks (“Multiversal”, “Thunderbird”, “Ascension”) properly bring home this 48 min journey (especially the aggressive “Thunderbird”). Innertia is top notch melodic rock/metal and is probably going to make my year end list. Be sure to give this one some attention!