While Storm the Walls borrowed from the classic Maiden sound broadly, the material on Olympus continually reminds me of Maiden’s post-Blaze output. Opener “Out of Nowhere” has a very Dance of Death sound and I can even imagine it opening that album fairly well. It’s a rousing dose of Pig Iron Maiden and completely enjoyable for what it is without crossing any new frontier. The vocals of Artur Almeida continue to be uncannily Bruce-like and the guitar work from Bob Katsionis (Warrior Path, ex-Firewind, ex-Serious Black) and new axe John McRis dig deep into the Murray/Smith/Gers book of souls for inspiration and tricks. “Ghost from the Future” feels like a cut from Brave New World and it’s solid if not necessarily essential Maiden form, though the guitars are aces high. “The Other Side of the Mirror” is one of the better tracks, with a bold, boastful punch and A Matter of Life and Death-esque larger-than-life feel that puts hooks in you.
There are few surprises to be found amid the copying and tracing, but “The Sign” does borrow a few pages from the Tony Martin era of Black Sabbath, with stretches of the song sounding vaguely like “The Headless Cross.” It’s an interesting accent to the Maiden on Maiden violence, though the song itself is overly long. The band has a real ear for their muse’s body of work and when they nail the formula you get killers like “Abel & Cain.” When they miss the mark somewhat, you get Virtual XI-level stuff like “Angels of the Light.” Speaking of the Blaze era, Artur manages to sound a bit like Mr. Bayley on parts of “Fortune Favors the Bold.” The 10-minute closing title track is better than you might expect but it definitely doesn’t need to be that long. It is notable though as the only time Artur steps out of his Bruce (and occasional Blaze) suit to sing in a completely different style and it’s an interesting changeup. At a tight 45 minutes, Olympus doesn’t feel too long and most of the songs are easy to digest. There is an occasional bloat issue, but that may be done in the interest of keeping as close to the source material as possible.
While the first thing most will notice is Artur’s Bruce Dickinson aping, the feature that truly props up the Stray Gods show is the high-level guitar work. Katsionis and McRis go where eagles dare to keep songs lively and interesting with slick riffs and oh-so-familiar harmonies, some of which are real revelations. The solos are on point and never overblown and a classy, polished air is curated throughout. Artur does a good job mimicking both the singing style and vocal ticks of Lord Bruce and I give him full credit for it, as much as I can give it for a copy job. What the material needs is a WAY bigger bass presence. Gus Macricostas is there, but not nearly on as big and loud of a level as he should be. If you’re going to be Scion Maiden, you gotta Harris the masses mercilessly, and Gus sometimes becomes a sound fugitive.
I enjoyed Olympus, though to a lesser degree than I did Storm the Walls. The writing is a bit less consistent and the good songs don’t quite hit as hard this time. A dedicated fan of the targeted worship will find plenty to like, but I fear that this whole schtick could be trending toward Tired Maiden purgatory if the band keeps wasting years doing nothing but imitating one legendary act. As homage projects go though, Stray Gods are the final frontier, whatever that means. Well worth a spin for weekend warriors.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Rock of Angels
Websites: straygods666.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/StrayGods666
Releases Worldwide: June 23rd, 2023
