Eldritch
Cracksleep

Brand new album from one of the biggest metal heroes of the Italian nation, progressive heroes Eldritch with amazingly amazing vocalist Terence Holler has many great albums in their discography and are now ready with album number eleven. It is called Cracksleep and has a pretty good artwork but perhaps an even better theme, the concept about insomnia has to be described as a great match for the darker atmospheres that Eldritch tend to give us on their albums. And it is described as the most diverse of their albums to date. It incorporates elements from their early days combined with the modern influences they have drawn from on their later works – it all sounds quite brilliant both when you read the press text aloud and when you listen to the music.

Eldritch sound familiar yet fresh, kind of like they often do when they release a new album. It is quite a dark and heavy album, the production and sound is excellent and Holler sings as fantastic as he always does. And it is also an album with strong variation, some nods back towards their earlier works and perhaps less of a surprising vein than their previous albums – there are no real surprises on this album. But it is well performed and well written, the playing time is more or less perfect, as the 53 minutes the album plays feels like exactly the amount you want. I think it is the perfect insomnia before playing something from the pile of ordinary stuff and cure said insomnia.

Noticeably strong on all accounts, Cracksleep shows no weaknesses and all the tracks are really good – perhaps lacking that slap in the face that makes you stop and really notice but the excellent intro and title tracks compensate for that somewhat. And I can write many more good things about this album, how captivating the mood is, how great Holler sings, the great guitars, the great songs and so on – but no matter what, I still think they have done better stuff before. Perhaps it is the lack of novelty that we heard on the predecessor, the familiar is great but it kind of removes the wow-feeling that you get from an utterly fresh and amazing album. Sure this is amazing but not quite as amazing as some of the albums Eldritch has done before it.

Eldritch has put together an album that is impossible to dislike, and I can recommend this to anyone who likes some great dark progressive metal. This is another great effort from a band that constantly puts out great albums and I can play it through over an over just to hear that amazingly amazing voice that Terence Holler gives us on this album. It may not be their best album to date and it is clearly not a cure for insomnia as it keeps you awake and listening, but it is an excellent album that I will return to even after I have written this review. And with that I can only tip my hat to this great band and compliment them for another great album – an album I think you should have a closer look at.

HHHHHHH