«Tides of Destiny» came out on September 19, 2026 via Hellenic Metal World. It is 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’ personal bet
Ilias has the vocals, the rhythm and lead guitars and the keys, and he signs the music and the lyrics. Beside him stand Mike Mastrokoukos on bass on 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 and also appears in the artwork. From «Aurora Borealis» which 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» which closes it.
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 you hum along to and choruses that stay in your ear. It is not 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 coherence and organises the listen like a voyage — storm, pirates, bays and shipwrecks — without an anchor, with the sails open on the seven seas.
Find them
Those of you who read Metal Territory have got it: we don’t give ratings like that. The rating, like what each person listens to, is a feeling — what for me is 10/10, for you may be something else. What matters at the end of the day is that what you heard turns over in your head, the way «Poseidon’s Fury» and «No Anchor Strong Enough» turn over 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 course, the ten-year absence and the new album «Tides of Destiny» | Thy Legacy – The Call
