INNER AXIS – Midnight Forces

The German heavy metal outfit known as Inner Axis recently unleashed this ten-track affair of theirs via Fastball Music, and just like the single releases and full-length LPs that preceded Midnight Forces it very much leans towards the classic variety of the genre, which is to say that your appetite for galloping riffs, pounding drums, and blistering solos will undoubtedly be met. That is the good news. What sucks about this one are the vocals as they are horrendous and detract from all the great and positive aspects of the actual music, which is incredibly frustrating as there are some interesting and worthwhile ideas present on the disc. The amount of energy that courses through the record is impressive and the slightly raw production suits the intensity of the song material nicely, but this is simply one of those cases where the negatives outweigh the positives as the vocals overshadow the instrumental work underneath them and you find it pretty much impossible to focus on anything other than the singing and how it adds or contributes absolutely nothing to the overall result. I dig the fact that some of the lyrics are heavily inspired by cult movies and there are some fiery and crunchy riffs to be enjoyed here and there, but the overall listening experience is hardly what you would call satisfying or one for the history books.