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This is the fourth physical album (their sixth in total) in that many years by Greek bluesy stoner rockers King Mountain. On guitar and vocals, of course, the multi-talented Stavros Papadopoulos. The album starts out pretty cool and calm to burst into some really heavy, almost doomy riffs. It evolves into a really nice semi-soft, heavy bluesy number, the ones you usually find in the second half of an album. It almost has kind of a King’s X vibe to it, as well. Interesting! “Firebringer” brings in a bit of classic metal into the mix. “Evil Deadly Nights” is as slow and doomy as they come, while “Midas Touch” is a nice acoustic ballad that turns into a slow epic heavy number. “Until the Day I’m Gone” is another crushing metal number. “Axecalibur” is crushing riff monster featuring some killer bass playing from John Christopoulos and brilliant soloing from Stavros while “Retribution” is another heavy rock hitter. I’m not sure why this band is often labeled as a “stoner” band. This is classic heavy rock with some heavier passages and quite a nice variety in the song writing. A great album indeed!

Janne Stark / Stark Music Reviews (November 2023)

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"Wrath Of The Gods" is the third KING MOUNTAIN album after "Days Of Redemption" and most recently "Kingdom Of Shadows", the sixth of the rocking power trio from beautiful Greece. Admittedly, especially in the shadowy realm I often missed the red thread, although the mixture of riff strength, blues and stoner as well as the subtle hint of doom mood had its charms. I was all the more curious to see with which tones string wizard Stavros Papadopoulos now wants to draw the wrath of the gods upon himself.

As if the King of the Mountains were to change his chosen path, no. Here, once again, the powerful, positively dusty Heavy Rock holds the strings in its hands. And since the rock is based on the riff, Papadopoulos knows how to stage it very well. 'Tears Of The Earth' is heavy as hell, 'Firebringer' goes with a lot of momentum, 'Wrath Of The Gods' has bite and energy and – hand on heart – I can't get enough of the more and more effective 'Midas Touch' and 'Sons Of The Storm'.

While I attested to a certain "Sons Of Anarchy" charm on KING MOUNTAIN's predecessor, this is also more evident than ever on "Wrath Of The Gods". Nevertheless, the album has enough unique selling points, as the good Stavros enriches his heavy rock with all kinds of blues and stoner elements in such a way that a swinging, but also partly gloomy, partly more thoughtful atmosphere is created - cold as a dog's snout.

KING MOUNTAIN seems more focused and determined on "Wrath Of The Gods" and also knows how to convince in terms of vocals, which the Greek shares with the vocal power of Tania Kikidi in at least two tracks. All in all, "Wrath Of The Gods" is a big step in the right direction, where the red thread that was thought to be lost on the predecessor is found again and followed more than ever. A great, coherent heavy rock album with that certain extra, which could sweeten many an autumn day on the Harley.

Marcel Rapp / Power Metal.de (October 2023)

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Greece calling...

And I was so happy when I held the new CD of King Mountain in my hands. Ever since I was able to review the band here on RockTimes for the first time, I like this band very much – especially mastermind and jack-of-all-trades Stavros Papadopoulos.

After the 'shallower', hard rock-drenched predecessor 'Tempest At The Gate', he has drawn the wrath of the gods and the band is now trying to counter it with powerful blues-hard-stoner rock. "Tears Of The Earth" does this with a quieter, bluesy conversation in which the sharpness of the guitar solo sets an exclamation mark. "Firebringer" already gains a lot of speed and heaviness. Stavros and his long-time companion John Christopoulos on bass and Chris Lagios on drums give it their all.

A first real highlight is the Sabbath-dedicated "Evil Deadly Nights". King Mountain provides the heavy intro with a very tiny, but unmistakable "War Pigs" sidekick. The background is refined by the new Greek metal queen Tania Kikidi with her powerful »Uuuuhhs« and »Aaaahs«, which harmoniously stands out from the stoner heaviness. Deep riffs and staccato runs alternate with melodic song structures and a harmonizing, short vocal part. By the way, Tania is not there by chance! Her two solo albums were accompanied, written and produced by none other than Stavros Papadopoulos. Their current (good) album "Wings Of Freedom" was just released in August.

There are few quiet moments on "Wrath Of The Gods" – one of them can be found on "Midas Touch" introverted, Stavro's strong voice really comes into its own here; a beautiful timbre, similar to that of David Coverdale. This conveyed feeling penetrates deep into the musical soul and underlines this great song with a heartfelt guitar solo. The instrumental "Axecalibur" could delight the gods; what he delivers in the two minutes is already the highest guitar art! Respect for the Lord.

Finally, the title track "Wrath Of The Gods" follows, which Tania refines again with her backing vocals. The piece reaches deep into the doomer corner and the heaviness of the music stretches like a steaming metalkolos, electrified over the entire length and with beautiful DIO borrowings.

Also with the sixth production within four years it is a usual good guitar-savvy King Mountain album, which actually doesn't produce anything new, although this time it seems heavier and partly more metal-oriented. The main actor once again focuses on all his guitar art and is bursting with freshness and eagerness to work, as well as in his numerous side projects. As usual, his fellow musicians act like a solid board that gives their frontman the necessary freedom. This is what makes their music and also a lot of fun.

Achim Mayinger / RockTimes (October 2023)

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On their sixth album the super trio of King Mountain continue where they left off with their last albums ‘Kingdom Of Shadows’ and ‘Tempest At The Gate’. Guitarist/singer Stavros Papadopoulos, bassist John Christopoulos and drummer Chris Lagios have developed a certain style that is a combination between guitar driven hard/heavy rock with some stoner influences as well, although the accent on ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ lies clearly on heavy rock. Did I mention that they hail from Greece?

Main man Stavros Papadopoulos is a bloke who does not do ‘fancy stuff’. With King Mountain as well as his southern rock project Super Vintage it is all about basing his songs around a strong riff, simple yet effective vocal melodies, heavy rhythms, and flashy solos, all delivered in a classic rock style. Stavros’ mission is to keep heavy and guitar driven rock alive and yet again he has delivered on all fronts. Starting with a more slow yet forceful anthem called "Tears Of The Earth" King Mountain really fires up with the up-tempo stomper "Firebringer" and follows through on the other eight tracks with the short but juicy song "Axecalibur" and the fiery title-song as absolute highlights.

Yes, music wise this might be a continuation of some earlier work, but the main difference this time is that this album sounds stronger, is more cohesive and as a band King Mountain sounds tighter than they ever did before. Add to that a solid production and you are dealing with a straight forward, right in your face classic heavy rock album, that fires on all cylinders. No fancy tricks, no difficult twists, and turns here, is it all about the solid song, the cast iron guitar work and from time-to-time impressive melodies and changes in tempo. There is also a backing vocal guest role for Tania Kikidi on a few tracks.

King Mountain is certainly one of the best bands that Greece has to offer these days and Stavros Papadopoulos as a guitarist is just as impressive as his more famous countrymen Gus G, although both guitarists have a different style. Not familiar with King Mountain or even Super Vintage and you call yourself a fan of real classic rock? Do yourself a big favour and go on a discovery journey.

Michel van de Moosdijk / Headbangers Lifestyle (August 2023)

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