01.Legends Of The Sea/The Epic Of Apollonius
02.Hellenic Steel
03.Hail The Heroes
04.Legacy Of The Lyre
05.To Lands No Man Hath Seen
06.Call Of Blood
07.O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)
08.Friend Or Foe
09.Enchantress Of The East
10.The Golden Fleece Pt1
11.The Golden Fleece Pt2
Epeios Phocaeus (Vocals)
Polydeykis (Guitars/Keyboards/Flute/Accordion)
George Karahalios (Drums)
Greek band formed originally under the band name "Sacred" in December 2003.
The following year they record their first self financed demo cd titled “Clash of The Titans”. The demo included four tracks in the music direction of heavy/power/epic metal and got some very encouraging reviews from the underground heavy metal scene.
The band started working on some ideas and they composed 10 tracks that musically drew on some folk elements from the Hellenic and Celtic music heritage and lyrically they refer to the heroic sacrifice of 300 Spartan and 700 Thespian warriors, eventually released in 2008 'The Battle Of Thermopylae:The Chronicle' under the new band name Sacred Blood.
In 2012 the band released a concept album about the deeds of Alexander the Great, called 'Alexandros' and was hailed as one of the best albums of the year.
Played this one through, it is an epic piece of work, cannot fault it's production and musicanship one bit.
That this is a trio is something to be admired, they have created an album that bands with seven or eight members couldn't compete with.
So what can I say, stunning mixture of symphonic and power metal, elements of folk and good old heavy metal, hell even some progressive rock in the mix.
Got to pick a couple out, because they are a little different, firstly 'O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)' a brilliant celtic folk song, traditional instruments used to perfection, stunning vocal delivery, simple almost understated yet this song just has that special something, not an electric instrument in sight, then when the backing vocals come in complete with feamle voices, oh just wow!
At the other end of the musical spectrum comes 'Enchantress Of The East' a full on speed metal piece, extreme drum patterns, Dio (esque) vocals, clever orchestration, brilliant backing vocals, scathing guitarwork.
Then to wrap this up a two parter with 'The Golden Fleece' starts off with full orchestration, then some normal vocals, but its when the drum starts that the atmosphere begins to build, a female voice speaks (not sure what as its in greek) but it really adds something till the full chorus harmonys come in, this is then topped off with 6 minutes of epic power metal, riff loaded and more clever timing changes that flow into folk rock and mini ballads and full blown metal.
Rating 10/10
For fans of: Dream Evil, Achilla, Elvenking, Northland, Lyriel
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