Formed in Greece in 2010, EXILE OF HEAVEN completed a Demo in 2012, before signing to Steel Gallery Records and releasing "The Illusion Of Randomity," which contains eight tracks. The cover artwork, designed by Mark Erskine, is fantastic. The band's logo, with some letters that look like scythes, looms high above a landscape rich with shades of blue, indigo and purple, with a solitary person overlooking a city engulfed by mountains outside of a body of water, with a large moon visible in the immediate horizon. They describe themselves as a Heavy/Melodic/Power Metal band. Let's get down to the music.

"Marching For The Moon" is a one-minute opening instrumental, setting a mood of galloping rhythms and dark magic. It segues into "Even Warriors Fall." A decided NWOBHM influence is what I hear first, akin to IRON MAIDEN. The chorus is slow and deliberate, allowing you to take in the gravity of the lyrics. It's just a bit on the thin side, and could have been an area that some keyboards might have thickened up nicely. The riff in "Bloodstorm" is enjoyable, and some more Power Metal elements poke out here. Vocally, some snarls are added to give haste to the lyrics. "Sky's Embrace" is a mid-tempo song with some vocal harmonies in the verses. Again, it feels just a little thin to me and lacks some accenting that could give it a lot more of a punch.

"Path Of Heaven" opens with some glorious keyboard notes and acoustical guitars that provide a pretty melody. These kind of modern-day "power ballads" are common for the style but I always appreciate them. "Graveyard of Dreams" is a darker song that reminds me of some of the wonderful moods that a band like IRON MAIDEN capture on some of their tracks. "Candlewish" is moody as well, and here the piano notes and acoustical guitar work very well together. "Venomous Stream" closes the album as it opened, with a one-minute instrumental that is sad in a satisfying sort of way, perhaps foretelling the story on the cover of the album.

The band have laid a nice foundation here for a debut album and there is potential that they have to find a way to unlock. They have a good grasp of songwriting and structure. Some things that might add more meat to their sound for me would include some more harmonized dual guitar riffing, more bass lines that exist outside of the main guitar riffs, expanded keyboard presence, varied song tempos and some accent points that bring you to emotional peaks. Overall, it's a solid effort however that is worth checking out.