Release date: Out now!

Stygian Path is an epic heavy metal band hailing from Athens, Greece. Formed in 2022, the band unites five musicians with a shared passion for metal, each bringing over a decade of experience from various rock and metal projects (ex-Emerald Dream, ex-Deified, Sunlight).

In 2024, they had the honuor of opening Chania Rock Festival, sharing the stage with legends like Exodus and Blind Guardian. Now, Stygian Path is ready to carve its name into the metal scene with their debut album, The Lorekeeper. Produced, mixed, and mastered by George Emmanuel (Lucifer’s Child, ex-Rotting Christ), the album delivers a powerful storm of riffs, haunting melodies, theatrical intensity, and soaring choruses—an epic journey through myth, history, and the depths of human nature. If you like epic heavy metal this could be for you!

Review

Prelude welcomes us to “The Lore Keeper” which is an orchestral arrangement mostly starting off with what sounds like a viola before it is joined by violins some staccato plucks. It sounds quite dark the way it plays out and the big timp hits add to the looming atmosphere as it slowly builds up.

Now we really get to dive in—Prometheus ignites with a thunderous surge! It launches with bold, roaring chords soaring through a vast, open soundscape, while sweet little lead lines flutter like sparks in the air. The vocals begin as cryptic spoken-word thoughts before morphing into powerful melodies, ushering in a wave of intensity. Then come the double kicks—pounding like a war drum—paired with these primal “huh!” chants that echo like molten metal being hammered in a cavernous forge. The track winds and weaves through shifting tempos and rolling, drum patterns, constantly evolving and keeping you on your toes. Midway, everything tightens into a tense, muted riff section—coiled like a spring—before blossoming into these gorgeous, harmonised guitar lines, each snare hit glowing with emotion. And then—bam!—the solo comes in, crying out in vivid, expressive bursts, trading between fire and finesse. As the vocals return for one final blaze, the outro storms in with galloping kick drums and a sense of triumph. Great stuff indeed!

Tides of Time roars open with big open chords and cymbal crashes! Melodic guitar work takes centre stage backed by double kick ideas before we hit the first verse! The vocals are fully charged and the guitar work is quite literally on fire in this song. Everything just sounds huge in size and there is plenty going on that you will not get bored! I guarantee that it will not take long before you head banging or throwing yourself around in some shape or form. The play between tempos just adds to the mighty power that this track emits. I love the breakdown where acoustic guitar ideas delicately whisper later being joined by calm and collected vocal lines. But of course things soon start to build up with some sweet leads slowly creeping in as well as thick rhythms. For the last minute the pace picks up again and we are given an awesome guitar focused section with some tasty licks before we reach the final chorus!

Rhapsody Χ​Χ​Ι​Ι​ – The Eagle and the Lion is sat in the plains of darkness. A barren void where guitar notes linger and speak out. The gentle pounds of tom toms add to the ideas that lonesome guitar whispers. However everything starts to build adding a little intensity before an explosion of speeding guitars hits our ears. It feels like it could leave dust trails as it flys past. Even the vocals that latch themselves on feel well matched. Soon enough the pace drops giving us a breather allowing us to focus in on the flowing melodies and words of the story. The breakdown where the bass shines through and the acoustic chords ring out feels magic. This combined with the whispers echoing straight away made me think of classic Iced earth. And then what came next literally confirmed this! We are catapulted into an explosive inferno of quick picking rhythm guitars. They feel like they are being spewed by the fiery pits of hell! As mentioned the riff took me back to classic Iced Earth vibes and the solo in too added some extra heat! We drop back to a slower pace which sways and swaggers retaining the evil rhythm work while colossal bell chimes go off in the background. There are some chants thats feel they have been taken from a ritual. There are some breaks that chop up the slower pace while a dark lead guitar does its dirty work on top of the other instrumentation! This is certainly a neck breaker and pure evil! Best song so far.

The Wanderer starts with a warm acoustic guitar mix and the sounds of soft gentle vocal lines. Theres even some quiet drums thumping in the background making this whole section feel like a tale from old times. However a lead guitar sings out before we are launched into the the thick of the song. And while the pace remains slow, the layered vocals and calling guitar chords make this song sound huge. Throughout it changes things up and while it doe not strip back to the sounds in the intro it does return to acoustics with a soft drum beat in the background and stronger vocal ideas. The guitar work that comes in and out feels a bit eerie and sinister. However after a brief organ sound, things soon pick up taking listeners on an epic adventure. Storming drum and bass lines, fiery guitar work and ripping vocals bring this tale to a close.

Unholy Land trudges a long through the thick of the mists with powerful hungry chords. Drums tumble and fall before we wonder into a slow paced section of vocals and delicate background ideas. The heavy guitars ring out as an accompaniment before we charge head first into a little thrashy section. The Chorus feels somewhat heroic with big walking kick drums and epic sounding vocal lines taking things up a notch before we return to the slower pace and lingering background ideas. I think they are actually notes of a sitar but i could be wrong. A little lead lick squeals towards the skies before we get even more thrashyness adding a shed load of absolute heaviness to this song. The dark angelic voices that cry from the darkness add something a bit different and the leads just add to the haunting feel of the song. Excellent stuff!

Le Château du Deuil comes in at almost at 8 minutes and this is pretty damn evil sounding. A ghostly voice opens the song before we get some dark twisted riffs and the stomps of kick drum before everything picks up. The riffs are evil and sinister and the haunted voices weave in and out in the background. All while the slight theatrical vocals tell a story capturing your attention instantly. I love the play between paces and I must say this song really does sound a bit demonic. It feels like a journey through darkness and even the leads that sing to the skies on top op rolling drum patterns add a great touch to the mix. At around 5 minutes in everything slows down and I can just imagine hooded figures walking with a lit lanterns and incense burning about to commit to a ritual. However everything fires up for another big charge towards the end with rumbling double kick and a mix of solo and harmonised guitar melodies. A brief vocal passage and more lead guitar work takes the song to the end. Excellent stuff!

A two minute number by the name of Path to Exile closes the album.And unlike most of the album this is slower paced and not as fiery as other songs. Its approach is somewhat calmer and gentle helping the album the close nicely. Here we have some glowing semi acoustic guitars singing notes at the forefront of the mix to start things. And if you listen closely you can here they ring out in to the big open space. There are light ride notes and simple drum patterns to help this dream like guitar melody drifty along. The background instrumentation is soft and acts as perfect bed slowly building up over time introducing new ideas like strings and even piano notes giving the track extra feeling. The later half of the song the strings become more prominent helping it to reach its climax!

Conclusion

The Lore Keeper is a powerful and immersive journey, blending cinematic atmosphere with crushing riffs and dynamic storytelling. From the fiery chaos of Prometheus to the haunting calm of Path to Exile, the album showcases impressive range and emotional depth. While rooted in familiar metal territory, its execution feels fresh and purposeful. Bold, dark, and full of character—this is a standout release.

TheNwothm Score: 8.5/10

Links

Bandcamp: https://stygianpath.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StygianPath

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stygianpath_band/

Label: https://www.eatmetalrecords.com/