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For Honor And Bloodshed

    
       
       
       
     
             
Knight & Gallow are a heavy metal band from the USA formed in 2019 releasing their debut album 'For Honor And Bloodshed' in 2022.    
             
Inspired by bands such as Manilla Road, Eternal Champion, Visigoth and Gatekeeper, newcomers Knight & Gallow storm into sight with forty furious minutes of epic and traditional heavy metal - the foot well and truly planted on the monitor. The band launch their debut with the sub two minute instrumental 'Middle Earth' - building a crescendo of anticipation for the albums opening song (proper) 'Men Of The West'. Clocking in at a massive seven a half minutes in length, 'Men Of The West' is one helluva long song to begin with - but by jove it's a fucking cracker! Rich in texture and rumbling like an unrelenting thunderstorm, 'Men Of The West' is an infectious and expansive journey of up tempo traditional heavy metal, keeping you hooked from start to finish. Picking up pace and increasing heaviness, the band power on with the gutsy 'Godless', setting the mosh pits alight with a tune to furiously head bang to. I know the albums only two songs in, but to hear this much British metal from an American band is terrific - the UK arguably the inventor of heavy metal.    
             
And with no let up in the pulsating power of old school metal, 'Soul Of Cinder' takes a more melodic path as it keeps the pace high, the energy higher, and the foot rooted to the monitor. Fans of Iron Maiden and Raven are gonna lap this up, with Knight & Gallow's sound lying somewhere between the two British icons. The relentless barrage of traditional heavy metal is gonna plant smiles a mile wide on the faces of traditionalists everywhere - 'Lord Of The Sword' maintaining the albums old school momentum. So raise your fists high in the air and bang your heads hard to a style of heavy metal that is catchy, infectious, and highly addictive. And what a turn of speed! 'God's Will' racing out of the blocks at high velocity with a high pitched "metal scream" to set it on its way. Adopting a more mid tempo pace along with a Judas Priest 'Painkiller' era sound, 'God's Will' is pure heavy metal power.    
             
The pace doesn't stay away for too long - 'Stormbringer's Call' coming to life with the most NWOBHM sounding guitars heard so far, and galloping forth with a melodious intent higher than any of the previous songs. The sing a long ability of the chorus is phenomenal, the band surely onto a winner with this crowd participation pleaser of a tune. In fact the entire album is a crowd pleaser, the unrelenting and highly addictive nature is gonna form a fantastic live experience for every concert goer. And as we near the albums end, 'Blood Of Wolves' sets the fastest pace heard so far, scorching the Earth as it scurries on by. With a slow down for the chorus break, 'Blood Of Wolves' swerves between blistering speed and a majestic mid tempo march. Fucking awesome! The climax to a very good album, is the six minutes plus 'Black Swordsman', and despite its length maintains the albums overall pace - adding elements from the epic and glory styles of metal to give it a majestic tall and proud feel. What a way to introduce yourself to the world of metal with a corker of a debut album.    
             
Overall, a relentless and very enjoyable ride of all out heavy metal that is both infectious and highly memorable.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal-Roos    
             
             
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