STRAY GODS
“Olympus”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Stray Gods are a heavy metal band from Greece formed by guitarist/producer Bob Katsionis (Outloud, Prydain, Wonders, ex Firewind, ex Warrior Path), the band completed by bass player Gus Macricostas, drummer Thanos Pappas (Scar Of The Sun, Outloud), vocalist Artur Almeida (Attick Demons), and guitarist John McRis (Anorimoi). The bands debut album ‘Storm The Walls’, was released in 2022…

…and in a little over a year later, the band are back! With sophomore album ‘Olympus’ emerging in 2023, Stray Gods return to deliver a brand of galloping, “foot on the monitor” traditional heavy metal very much in the vein of Gods of metal Iron Maiden. Katsionis makes no secret of the influence the British metallers had on him during the eighties – and throughout ‘Olympus’s forty five minute run time, this influence can clearly be heard. None more so than during the albums frenetic opener ‘Out Of Nowhere’ – the legendary gallop in full, fast paced flight! The worlds metal traditionalists are gonna go weak at the knees for this album, ‘Olympus’ containing everything a metalhead needs for a very good time! The breathless pace of ‘Out Of Nowhere’ is simply stunning, setting the world alight with a brand of heavy metal that is simply red hot.

The sound of melodic heavy metal rises high in the air as the band power on with the foot on the monitor metaller ‘Ghost From The Future’. Heads will nod hard and fists punch the air in sheer delight at this one, Stray Gods delivering an out of this world opening one-two. I just can’t stop grinning from ear to ear, the band giving me a quivering eargasm – which to be fair, may become multiple eargasms as ‘Olympus’ rolls on! And now for two six minute plus offerings, the first of which ‘The Other Side Of The Mirror’, comes with an atmospheric and anticipation fuelled intro that yes, Iron Maiden would be proud of. And as ‘The Other Side Of The Mirror’ progresses, tempo and gear changes feature highly, the majestic swagger of anthemic heavy metal taking the spotlight. And remaining in the spotlight, ‘The Sign’ has just as much majesty and elegance as ‘The Other Side Of The Mirror’ – maybe more! For ‘The Sign’ is bolder, bigger, and much more bombastic, reaching deeper into the hearts of metalheads everywhere, pumping blood round the body with more urgency and oomph than any other song heard so far.

Picking up the pace to become a fast gallop, ‘Abel & Cain’ follows the traditional heavy metal blueprint, highly head bang-able and insanely infectious! The band are at their most melodic here, firmly pressing the pedal to the metal, keeping listeners hooked with a jaw dropping array of riffs. Stray Gods are to heavy metal, what icing is on a cake! And for the first time the band drop all energy and oomph in favour of the majestic hymn-like stroll of ‘Fortune Favors The Bold’ – a bold swagger of reined in power delivered with tonnes of emotion. And as ‘Fortune Favors The Bold’ progresses, the level of thunder increases along with an immense anthemic feel. There’s just no getting away from the huge Iron Maiden influence, the band marching on with ‘Angels Of The Light’, heavily nodding its head in the direction of the metal legends. But make no mistake, Stray Gods are not ‘Maiden clones – far from it! They are however, a band that follow the ‘Maiden legacy – a legacy that thousands upon thousands of bands follow, it just so happens that Stray Gods have a founder who was brought up on a diet of Iron Maiden, which is now a major part of the song writing process.

And at ten minutes in length, album closer ‘Olympus’ is an elegant epic of incredible magnitude – from the anticipation fuelled first minute and a half to the razor sharp crescendo that explodes into life and stomps forth with a head held high majesty. ‘Olympus’ (the song) is full of emphatic twists and turns, swinging this way and that, yet all the time remaining steadfast in heavy metal territory. And if you’ve got this far through the album with only “it’s just Iron Maiden under another name” to say, then you can do one of two things – fuck right off! Or go and re-listen to ‘Olympus’ (the album) and listen closer, for Stray Gods offer so much more than what your closed-minded attitude allowed you to hear!

Overall, a bombastic barrage of traditional heavy metal, featuring a very strong foot on the monitor feel with an exceptionally high infectious level.

TRACKLIST

Out of Nowhere
Ghost from The Future
The Other Side of The Mirror
The Sign
Abel & Cain
Fortune Favors the Bold
Angels of Light
Olympus

https://www.facebook.com/StrayGods666

This review is the property of Iron Mathew and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities

---