Its always a pleasure to see a new release by ACHELOUS. The band was formed a couple of years ago and quickly made an impact in the scene with some demos, two EPs plus a full length album. Since 2015 they have been unstoppable with constant releases full of well played metal.
Their newest effort is “The Icewind Chronciles”, and as far as I understand it’s a concept album loosely based on the “Icewind Dale” trilogy by R.A. Salvatore, a trilogy of fantasy novels that take place in the world of Forgotten Realms (Dungeons and Dragons players should be quite familiar with it), something that I found quite intriguing, since I was a veteran AD&D player a couple of years ago.
To expect something less than Epic Heavy Power Metal, from ACHELOUS, is out of the question. The band maintains their classic Heavy / Power roots but also manages to evolve their music by boosting the melodic passages in their songs.
Therefore the album swifts into a more epic direction than their previous works, however the band’s original sound is there. Songs like “Flames of War”, “The Halflink’s Gem” and “Face the Storm” represent the bands Power Metal side while the other tracks are more mid-tempo, Heavy and Epic.
Moreover the songs “Mithril Hall” and “Outcast” -which is a powerful 7 minute epic that climaxes the journey to the north-, feature guest vocals by Christina Petrogianni, an interesting addition, since they add a touch of magic in the warmongering atmosphere of the album.
Other tracks like “Nothern Winds” and “Savage King” have the mid-tempo heavy vibe that ACHELOUS are known for.
I should mention that I really love the band’s sound and the production of the album: In a world full of flat, scooped, lifeless albums, ACHELOUS created a warm, organic sound while Chris’ vocals are rough, passionate, and memorable. And to be fair I would like this album to be lengthier, a couple of songs more yet, I understand that the band wanted to keep it swift and direct.
To sum up I’d say that ACHELOUS managed to create another great piece of music. Check It out and support the band anyway you can!
The album wll be released on No Remorse Records, March, 17, 2022. You can pre-order it here.
You can check the discussion about the album in our forum pages: here.
Some airplay on our radio can be heard here.
