Greece always retained a special bond and a strong relationship with the epic metal genre thus there are numerous underground bands that pay tribute to the rich and glorious epic metal tradition as it was born and evolved in the early 80s. Achelous is a relatively new band that was formed in 2011 by the guitarist Chris Achelous but it was essentially set in motion a couple of years later when ex-Reflection singer, Chris Kappas, joined the outfit.

In 2014 we had the luck of listening to “Al-Iskandar” and if we exclude the mediocre production, we couldn’t help but noticing three wonderfully-penned songs that were included in this demo CD. Almost a year later, Achelous strikes back with their first official four-track EP that is appropriately entitled “The Cold Winds of Olympus” and as one can easily guess this is yet another sample of pure epic metal (or as the band says: Hellenic battle metal). All the songs are brilliantly composed by Chris Achelous while the title track and “Myrmidons” are definitely the standout ones. The influences of Warlord, early Manowar, Doomsword etc. are quite obvious but I must say that Achelous presents, also, some sonic elements of their own that are triggered and enriched by the lyrical content of the songs (mainly inspired by the Greek mythological tradition).

Despite the fact that we could have done with a better production, the overall epic feeling remains intact and it’s not diluted whatsoever.

“The Cold Winds of Olympus” is essentially a representative sample of an underground epic metal sound aimed towards all of you out there who don’t pay any attention to trends and musical modernization. After all, the traditional heavy metal genre will always be timeless…
Highlight: There is also an official video-clip for the song “Guardians of the Light”.