Inner Axis - 2024 - Midnight Forces

(52:18; Fastball Music)

Track list:
1. I Am the Storm 5:37
2. Strike of the Cobra 4:51
3. Midnight Hunter 4:41
4. This Is the Way 5:00
5. Evil Dead 4:59
6. Spartan War-Cry 5:31
7. Steelbladed Avenger 4:12
8. Master & Commander 4:19
9. Burn with Me 4:45
10. Blade of Glory 8:23

Line-up:
Kai Hagemann - vocals, keyboards, programming
Zacharias Drosos - guitars, backing vocals
Nino Helfrich - guitars, backing vocals
Thies Jacobsen - drums, backing vocals
Rich Gray - bass
with:
Corinna Hoefeld-Jacobsen - trumpet
Timo Höcke - backing vocals
Petr Kröninger - backing vocals
Helge Paulsen - backing vocals
Marcel Fünkner - backing vocals
Marc Neubauer - backing vocals


German band Inner Axis have been around for 15 years or thereabouts, in addition to a prehistory under a different moniker that goes back to the end of the 1990s. Under their current band name they have three albums to their name, with their debut appearing back in 2011 and the follow-up appearing in 2017. For the past three years the band have built up expectations for their new album with a steady stream of advance singles, and at the start of March 2024 they released their latest studio album "Midnight Forces" through German label Fastball Music.

Inner Axis have worked hard at building up interest in this new album of theirs, and have opted to make use of resources to get reviews in too it would appear: It is not all that often that I receive a vinyl album to write about. It would appear that the band and the label alike have a strong belief in the commercial success of this production.

And on a strict commercial note, this is an album that should have a broad general appeal too. This is classic heavy metal with a firm foundation in the 1980s, and this retro variety of the form is one that retains a high degree of popularity among the people growing up with this form of music as well as being popular also among younger folks. In this case we get an album that revolve around three different but closely related styles: Regular Heavy Metal, New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Power Metal.

While possible and likely influences probably are numerous here, there are three bands in particular I took note of. The vocals and vocal style as well as the overall mood and atmosphere often gave me associations to good, old Manowar. It is very much a toned down variety of the epic and macho metal this legendary US metal band used to explore back in the day, but there are similarities that for me at least are striking. On a more minor note I did find that some of the songs had some similar features to good, old Saxon too, especially for some of the guitar riff sequences, and while this isn't what I'd describe as a dominant aspect of the proceedings it is still, in my view at least, a presence. A much more striking and dominant one is the influence from Iron Maiden. On this album at least the different harmony sections and guitar leads appear to have pulled in quite a few elements from Iron Maiden on this occasion, and numerous instances of the borderline proto power metal galloping riff and rhythm combination this legendary English band is so well known for is very much a presence too. For better or worse Inner Axis have mainly shied away from incorporating a Steve Harris style dominant bass guitar though.

I find this to be a good album, with well-developed songs that explore landscapes that will be broadly and borderline universally appealing among a majority of metal fans. While this isn't an album that for my taste in music comes across as brilliant or exceptional, this is a well-made production with good songs and a high degree of replayability. If you tend to enjoy heavy metal, power metal and NWoBHM as these styles were explored sometime around 1985, chances are good that you'll find this to be an interesting album to become familiar with.

Olav M. Björnsen, April 2024

Links:
https://www.inneraxis.net/
http://www.fastball-music.com/