10 years after their first album, Croatian heavy/groove metal band, KEOPS released their first album in English and third full-length overall with "Road to Remember" on March 25^th, 2022. The band has been together for some time though, with their formation beginning in 1995, originally as a group of friends from the street deciding to play and have fun. Naturally, there can be a tendency of members falling away for a band that didn't record their first album until 2012. Guitarist Bruno Mičetić, however, has been a stalwart member of the band and the only original member from that beginning in 1995. With their debut self-titled album released in 2012, they were a bit more hard rock than metal in style but it took them to the top of the Croatian tv and radio charts and the album shot to #4 in the list of best-selling albums in Croatia. Their second album "Lice Sudbine" was released in 2015 and had a more progressive sound. Another lineup change with a new vocalist and bassist put them back to their original metal style.

KEOPS released their first single from "Road to Perdition", "Unconscious Mind" all the way back in November of 2021. This was followed by a duo of singles, the first of which was "Trauma" in December followed by the title track in January. Then an EP came in February combining all the singles and adding "When I Remember" then another EP in March with a fifth track added to the list titled "Rise Again". I'm not a particular fan of this type of marketing as it simply embellishes on previous material but I can understand the need to keep the band at the forefront their fan's minds and arguably presents some of the best material from the album. About the album itself the band had this to say, "the album is about what happens when you lose yourself and what is really important in life. On "Road to Perdition", KEOPS denounce the fact that our everyday life is becoming more and more fast-paced, that most people only think about themselves and lose sight of essential things like compassion, love, health and joy of life."

The combination of different influences while still being heavily groove metal laden leaning towards industrial metal that KOEPS has created on "Road to Perdition" may not fit everyone's tastes, but its one of the first albums of this type that I feel is certainly breaking new ground. This album is very different from what they played on their lighter sounding previous album seven years ago. First, new vocalist Zvonimir Špacapan is doing his part of the heavy lifting regarding my interest, going from Jonathon Davis-like crunchy vocals to nearly Ronnie James Dio and even King Diamond falsetto highs, he brings a unique spin to the groove metal genre. Mix that in with a heavy dose of industrial or even new wave synth work and virtuoso quality guitar playing, it makes for an eclectic gelling of musical tastes. There is even a heavily Marilyn Manson-like turn - very much like his "Sweet Dreams" cover - with "Restless Waves". There is definitely a very 7-string, low-tuned, slow, chugginess about the album, but they certainly let loose on blistering tracks like "When I Remember" and thee fiery opener after the intro track, "Keops" shows creative guitar work as well. As someone who really loves hearing new things being tried, I hope KEOPS keeps up this new path and doesn't take too long with their next release.