«Tides of Destiny» came out on September 19, 2026 on Hellenic Metal World. It’s the second album by Exile of Heaven from Kozani, ten years after «The Illusion of Randomity», and it carries a whole story: since 2019 Ilias Kytidis had been left alone behind the name and kept the band alive, writing the music and the lyrics himself.
Country: Greece (Kozani)
Genre: Heavy/Power Metal
For fans of: Iron Maiden, Saxon, Magnum
Ilias’s personal bet
Ilias has the vocals, the rhythm and lead guitars and the keys, and signs the music and the lyrics. Beside him stand Mike Mastrokoukos on bass and guitar solo, Kostas Theocharis on drums, who also took on the production of the whole album. The mixing and mastering were done at Studio «Vault» in Kozani.
Ten tracks with the sea tying them together under the same roof, in a world that passes through the artwork too. From «Aurora Borealis» that opens the album, to «No Anchor Strong Enough» — the 2022 single that finally found its place on the album — and from «Ghost Ship» to «Tortuga», up to «Drops in the Sea» that closes.
The tracks
- Aurora Borealis
- No Anchor Strong Enough
- Oracle of Death
- The Aconitum’s Touch
- Water and Sand
- Poseidon’s Fury
- Chase the Sun
- Ghost Ship
- Tortuga
- Drops in the Sea
Our take
Exile of Heaven play melodic heavy and power metal with the guitars up front: riffing that has structure, solos that get hummed and choruses that stay in your ear. It isn’t a sound that will surprise you with its originality — but it is a sound that works when melody is the centre, and here melody is the centre.
The album’s bet is the return: an album that bridges what people loved about the band with its new era. The sea theme gives it cohesion and organizes the listen like a journey — storm, pirates, bays and shipwrecks — without an anchor, sails open to the seven seas.
Find them
Those of you who read Metal Territory have understood it: we don’t give ratings. A rating, like what each person listens to, is a feeling — what for me is a 10/10, for you might be something else. What matters at the end of the day is that what you heard keeps turning in your head, the way «Poseidon’s Fury» and «No Anchor Strong Enough» keep turning in mine. And as we always say: support these bands, because that’s where the big diamonds come from — like this album.
See also: Exile of Heaven: The 16-year path, the ten-year absence and the new album «Tides of Destiny» | Thy Legacy – The Call
