One of the prides of Greece finally comes up with its new opus. INNNERWISH can be considered as one of the finest exports my country ever had (or should have, to be precise) in the powerful melodic Heavy Metal field. Greece's has been mostly known do to its overwhelming growth of extreme Metal the last 15+ years, and that's quite fair. What we classic metalheads hope is that "No Turning Back" will have the potential and guts to be considered as a universally fine Metal album and not only as a good offering on an exotic country's behalf. Good news, eventually, is that the new INNERWISH CD takes no prisoners, to say the least.

The Athenian bands cut its teeth in a poor season for traditional Metal in local ground. Yet, with an impressive songwriting and solid lineup chemistry albums like "Waiting For the Dawn" and "Realms Of The Night" would not easily go unnoticed. Inking deal with premier - at the time - Euro Metal label Limb Music INNERWISH has just made the first serious step to cross Greece's borders. A couple of notable CDs - "Silent Faces" and "Inner Strength" - brought up the profile of a hard working act clearly demonstrating its classic Metal education but also willing to catch up with enough 'fresh' elements adding variety and color to INNERWISH's outline. If you ask me, the Metal world - and I do not mean the 'extreme' one - had more ink to drop focusing on acts in doubtful Metal taste, yet over-promoted by the decadent parts of the Music Industry and Media, the same time countless bans were sweating their asses off to keep the Metal flame alive (and - again - I do not mean the 'true' Metal ones).

C'est la vie; INNERWISH is here with their fifth and most ambitious effort to date. "No Turning Back"'s back cover artwork made me believe the band is in the 'all or nothing' mood regarding the band's commercial breakthrough; with a flourishing palette and a simple yet ample theme it invites you to a mesmerizing set of song played by a 15-years-old band playing as if there's no tomorrow. Here's a mix of classic guitar driven Metal filtered through the thriving moments of melodic Power Metal made in Europe (no, no 'candy' stuff here) while effective moments of lyrical/epic Metal are not out of the question at all. Clocking to something less than an hour of new immaculate material, "No Turning Back" shines via its striking sound (mixed by Fredrik Nordström and mastered by Mika Jussila) and the songlist shall probably nail you down if names like ASTRAL DOORS, HELLOWEEN, BRAINSTORM, DIO (Tony Martin era), BLACK SABBATH, PRETTY MAIDS, DREAM EVIL, (harmonic) MORGANA LEFAY and U.D.O. send shivers down your spine. The fact that the band hails from an obscure country adds to their value here - again - since an own identity is clearly shown throughout the whole CD.

Many bands are trying to show they have the power and the glory for the big escape; most of them try in vain even if they present good albums. INNERWISH's "No Turning Back" is the kind of album that does not take no for an answer. Maybe their finest moment (excluding the first unsaid 1998 creation), this release looks essential for all Heavy/Power/Epic Metal aficionados. You use it or lose it, there's no turning back!