Eldritch have been going in one form or another for some thirty five years now. So, whilst it’s fair to say that these Tuscan Warriors sound like an archetypal, kitchen-sink Italian power/prog band, it’s also important to remember that they are a band who are cornerstones of that scene, and have as much right as anybody to mould that signature sound in their own image.

And that’s just what they do on Innervoid, their thirteenth full length under the Eldritch banner. If you have heard the band before, you’ll know broadly what to expect, though to these ears  the band are in slightly darker than usual mood here. New vocalist Alex Jarusso takes on a big task, replacing long term vocalist Terence Holler (Marco Biagoli filled in directly after the departure of Holler but didn’t record with the band), and acquits himself well. So well, in fact, that you rarely if ever find yourself wishing for Terence’s presence, which must qualify as a result even without the fact that on tracks like Handful of Sand (Wright or Wrong) he proves himself to be a fine singer in his own right.

Actually, he puts in a fine performance throughout, backed by some bravissimo performances from Oleg Smirnoff on the keys and the solid-rock guitar battery of Eugene Simone and Rudj Ginnaneschi, all three of whom pull out all the stops whenever required. And whilst that quartet take all the plaudits, the engine room of drummer Rafahell Dridge and four stringer Dario Lastrucci put in admirable shifts themselves, with Dridge in particular hammering away in ear-catching style.

Elegy of Lust and especially the sleek To The End are as good as anything the band has recorded in a while, and if there’s isn’t anything here that’s going to get hoards of new fans flocking to the Eldritch banner they are at least going to please their existing fans with a set that ticks all the boxes and then some. Enjoyable stuff!

Innervoid releases today (17th November).