Tower of High Sorcery is the third album from Greece's Achelous, a band that is carving out a place in the halls of epic heavy metal with sword and axe. Picking up where the last album, 2022's The Icewind Chronicles, left off, Achelous gets right to it, doling out mighty riffs with an absolutely crushing guitar tone. Whether they roll with the speed of hordes riding across the steppes on "Dragon Wings" or "The Oath" or march with the inexorable certainty of a phalanx of spearmen on "Fortress of Sorrow" or the title track, heads will bang, and fists will raise. The vocals are improved this time around and Achelous have brought in a couple of guests that enhance the record. Harry "Tyrant" Conklin rattles the rafters on "Into the Shadows" and an unnamed female singer brings a lot of mystery and beauty to "Pagan Fire" and "Istar (Blood Red Sea)" with her ethereal singing. The songwriting is also better, though Achelous gets stuck on a couple of choruses ("Istar," "When the Angels Bleed") that don't have the most amazing vocal lines to begin with, but this is not a huge hurdle, especially when the rest of Tower of High Sorcery is so good. Fans of Grand Magus, Argus, Smoulder, Atlantean Kodex, etc. should already be aware of Achelous, but if not, don't wait any longer, this band is the real deal.
