Italian Dark Progressive Metal band Inner Vitriol have unveiled the official video for the first single “Weaker and Fading” feat. Geoff Tate, taken from their upcoming album, “Semper Tacui,” set for release on March 20, 2026.
Watch the official video for “Weaker and Fading” feat. Geoff Tate via the YouTube player below:
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“Semper Tacui” is a concept album centered on Time. It is inspired by the graffiti found in the prison cells of Palazzo Chiaromonte-Steri in Palermo, which housed the Holy Inquisition from 1487 to 1782, an institution that sought to suppress divergent thought through imprisonment, torture, and death, targeting those labeled simply as “heretics.”
Among the marks left by the prisoners are true works of art, including poems, reflections, prayers, frescoes, and drawings of great intensity. Among these, the Latin phrase “Semper Tacui” stands out, carved into a wall and still legible after more than four centuries. From this phrase emerges a narrative that unfolds symbolically over the course of a solar year and follows a prisoner increasingly worn down by confinement. Time thus emerges as the true protagonist of the story, understood as the antagonist of the character and, more broadly, of human beings themselves. A force that acts slowly yet relentlessly, capable of eroding, erasing, and distorting everything it encounters. Escaping its grip becomes a necessity, in order to prevent its hold, akin to an invisible form of torture, from undermining what defines us. In this sense, “Semper Tacui,” which literally means “I have always remained silent,” becomes a profound way of stating that, despite the torture and the grip of Time, I have remained faithful to myself, to my identity, and to my ideals.
Recorded at the Black Crow Recording Studio in Bologna, mixed by Marco Barusso (Lacuna Coil) and mastered by Marco D’Agostino (Lacuna Coil, Folkstone), the album consists of 6 Progressive Metal tracks with dark tones, with a total running time of approximately 43 minutes. The record features guest vocal appearances by two iconic figures of international Progressive Metal: Geoff Tate (former Queensrÿche), and Andy Kuntz (Vanden Plas).
The band — under the former monicker “Vitriol” — released two albums with the American label Melodic Revolution Records. Their full lenght “Into The Silence I Sink” was highly acclaimed by the international press at its release and the American radio show “Prog Metal Show” put it at the 8th place in the “Top 50 progressive metal albums of the year.” Inner Vitriol have toured extensively across Italy, the UK, Poland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Bosnia, Hungary, and Russia, sharing the stage with Dream Theater, Sons of Apollo, Pain of Salvation, Evergrey, Soen, Kingcrow, Votum, Riverside, and Geoff Tate. The monicker stems from the acronym of one of the most famous mottos of Renaissance alchemy “V.i.t.r.i.o.l. – Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem” (Enter the bowels of the Earth and, through your purification, you will find the hidden stone). It is a metaphor representing the path of man inside his own Ego in order to finally find the philosophical Truth. The duality of the locution “inner vitriol”, referring both to a corrosive chemical compound and to the renaissance motto, well describes the essence of the band, constantly pursuing balance between aggressiveness and introspection. In 2023, Inner Vitriol released a live DVD and two singles with accompanying music videos, “Endless Spiral” and “Impressioni di Settembre,” a reinterpretation of the 1971 Premiata Forneria Marconi classic. In 2024, the band toured the EU and UK with Evergrey and supported Geoff Tate on his Italian tour dates. In early 2025, Inner Vitriol released the EP “Butterflies,” featuring the eponymous single, and toured Europe once again with Geoff Tate. The band is now preparing to release a new full-length album, “Semper Tacui,” scheduled for release on March 20, 2026. The album will be promoted through two singles accompanied by official music videos, “Waterfall” and “Weaker and Fading,” as well as headline shows across Italy and a European tour planned for spring 2026.
Tracklist:
01. Broken and Dragged
02. On a Cold Floor
03. Waterfall
04. Weaker and Fading
05. Upon the First Ray of My Last Sun
06. I See the Flames
Lineup:
Gabriele Gozzi / Vocals
Michele Di Lauro / Guitars
Francesco Lombardo / Bass
Michele Panepinto / Drums
Special Guests:
Geoff Tate on “Weaker and Fading”
Andy Kuntz on “On a Cold Floor”
Gianluca Pappalardo on “On a Cold Floor”