DRAGONLANCE, TOWERS OF HIGH SORCERY AND MORE!
Achelous is a well-known epic metal band from Greece with which we had the pleasure to share an interview few months ago. They are well known for their forceful style, epic lyrics and inspiration from both the past and fantasy. Their first album Macedon was a tribute to the campaign of Alexander the great conquering the empire of Persia and their second was inspired by the icewind dale chronicles and the legend of Drizzt in the forgotten realms ttrpg setting.
Their third and newest album will take place in the world of Krynn and the chronicles of dragonlance a beloved setting both for its fantasy novels and ttrpg modules.
Dragonlance is a long favorite of mine both as a rpg player and fantasy reader, it holds a special place in my heart as it was the first fantasy I ever bought back in 1990 when I begin my journey into epic metal roleplaying games and fantasy!
So, I am more than happy to talk about dragonlance and epic metal with Achelous!!!
| LoO: here we are again I am very happy to talk with you and soon we will meet in lives when your new album is released. Welcome once again in the epic fantasy land of Öyr! | Thank you so much for the invitation!! It’s always a pleasure!! |
| LoO: dragonlance is a wonderful setting when and how you got involved with did you roleplayed in the world of Krynn, read the books or both? | We are huge fans of fantasy literature and the world of Dragonlance is my personal favorite!! So it was an easy choice fors us, since our last album was dedicated to the forgotten realms. |
| LoO: I am pretty sure you have read the chronicles the first trilogy, have you read the second as well the legends? How the books stand in your mind and heart? What other books from the enormous saga have you read? | I have read everything that has to do with Dragonlance, even the Forgotten Chronicles trilogy, the prequels of the first trilogy, the story of Mina and the novel about the mighty Huma!! Like I said…I am a huge fan of Dragonlance!! |
| LoO: have you roleplayed in the dragonlance setting in ttrpg? comment: still is not the same… (i have to arrange a session!) | Unfortunately I never had the opportunity of roleplaying in the Dragonlance settings. Luckily I can be a part of this saga through the music. |
| LoO: who is your favorite character from dragonlance and why, have you written a song about him in the new album? comment: one of the most famous antiheroes in fantasy with many good aspects that almost failed but managed to do the “right” thing in the end proving that he had some good inside | As far as I am concerned Raistlin Majere is the greatest character in all of fantasy literature. Such a unique personality fighting constantly with his demons, but also a born leader and the greatest wizard of all time, greater than the almighty Elminster!! Obviously we dedicated a song to Raistlin, which is the self-titled of the album “Tower of high sorcery”. |
| LoO: if you love dragonlance you must like dragons which is your favorite type metallic or chromatic? comment: oh that’s dangerous you can not like evil dragons, they are evil and not free but the servants of Tahkisis!!! | You know what? I like all dragons no matter the color or the type!! They are mighty and fearless and above all they are free!! |
| LoO: from the song titles I saw mention on Istar the doomed capital of the realm of the infamous kingpriest which was doomed by the cataclysm! Dragonlance has a long and rich history which is your favorite period? Comment: classics are the best | Obviously the time presented at the war of the lance is my favorite, because all the original great characters were introduced. |
| LoO: the oath (another song) is probably about the Knights’ of Solamnia famous “the Oath and the Measure”. How do you feel about the Knights’ organization their structure, disciplined life and honor-bound code? Comment: interesting, the oath that set the path of all the events in the chronicles and more… Well knights tend to be very tiring and tiresome both for themselves and the others but still we love them! | Actually the oath was written about the oath that the company of Tanis, Kitiara, Raistlin and the others was sworn to meet again in Solace. Kitiara broke the oath!! As far as the Solamnia knights are concerned I always believed that they exaggerated in their way of life and many times they paid a heavy price for it. |
| LoO: another unique feature of dragonlance is that magic is a close structure restricted to those brave souls that dare the dangers of the tests in the tower(s) of high sorcery, as well as the three moons and the three magic orders with good neutral and evil wizards working together to promote magic. How did you depict all these in your song(s)? Comment: a concept of bravery and sorcery is something I am thinking about for my rp games, the wizard must take risks and magic must be dangerous indeed… | Sorcery is equal to bravery in the fantasy world. So we tried not to separate them in our songs, but treat them as one!! In every single song of the album those two features go hand in hand. Because in order to be a wizard or a warrior you have to be unique, you have to be different, you must have a brave soul!! So we combined them in our songs. |
| LoO: what other aspects of dragonlance do you love and what did you put into songs? Comment: true for us children of the city nature pure and free is like fantasy unfortunately something we only read about! | Nature is something that is heavily promoted in the Dragonlance saga and basically in every fantasy book. So it was an element that we used lyrically. |
| LoO: finally, what made you make an album about a fantasy setting and how a set of books had inspired you? Comment: epic metal is the only way | We are an epic metal band, so we write songs about heroes, battles, kings and everything that fantasy books are about. So basically there was no other choice for us since we are fans ourselves. |
| LoO: as a last word your path these last years has come through Persia, forgotten realms and dragonlance! what’s going to be your next destination? Comment: war steel and magic what can it be, I wonder! | I don’t know the exact destination to be honest…what I definitely know is that it’s going to be an epic destination full of war, steel and magic!!! |
| LoO: well, it was great to talk to you again, I want to thank you for honoring my blog and I’m pretty sure we will meet again! | The honor is all mine!! Thank you for this great conversation my friend!! |
Disclaimer: as always i made no money from this interview neither if you buy anything from their site, all links are for informative reasons!