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The Icewind Chronicles is the second full-length album from Greece's Achelous, a band with a sound firmly rooted in the epic metal revival. They make great use of a massive, beefy guitar tone and mid-paced, marching drum beats to put listeners in the headspace of being on a battlefield or in a longboat or some other time and place long past. The lyrics deal with mythology, fantasy, and other epic themes and perhaps a little Tolkien, as song titles like "Mithril Hall" and "Halfling's Gem" would suggest. The vocals are something of a weak spot as they are at times not quite strong enough ("Outcast" for example) to match the music, but at others they are perfectly suitable. There are faster cuts, like the fist-pumping "Flames of War," but much of the album is perfect for slow, measured headbanging. Occasionally the song writing can get a little baggy ("Outcast" again) but for the most part, The Icewind Chronicles should light the drinking lamp and stoke the fires of war for fans of old Manowar, Grand Magus and newer bands like Megaton Sword.