CD REVIEW: INNER CORE – Soultaker

CD REVIEW: INNER CORE – Soultaker
Echozone
April 2018
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

Inner Core’s epic Eurometal is lifted to stellar heights by Artur Schall’s neo-classical keyboards, giving the album a proggy feel from the opening salvo of the eight-minute title track. If there’s any question as to whether keyboards belong in metal, I’ll remind you that Dio was never without a keys player, and that should be enough for anyone.

Anna Rogg’s vocals give this German symphonic metal/hard rock band a further lift, but it seems to these ears that the band is more heavy rock than symphonic, exactly. Whichever way you label them, Inner Core sound good.

‘Epic’ is an appropriate word for this album: the songs are epic in construction, epic in length (ranging from 4:11 to 8:27) and the production is astonishingly good.

Snowstorm is perhaps the most proggy tune on offer, with the keys sounding like flute at some points, and Rogg’s vocals sensational. Crucified is angry and in your face, while Keep Your Distance is dynamic and lush, a tender piano and violin ballad which swells ever larger like a heavy tide rolling in.

Category: CD Reviews