GREETINGS - first off - this is not the official GOTHIC KNIGHTS MySpace site. This page was put up in order to expose some of the earlier work of Gothic Knights. For true Metal Fans around the world.
..Gothic Knights - Kingdom Of The Knights - Sentinel Steel Records - 1999 -I was introduced to the Gothic Knights CD "Kingdom Of The Knights" through a fellow 80’s metal generation rocker. From the first moment this melodic power metal sound sang out of my speakers I was hooked. From the sound qualities of the over all mix to the ability and boldness of the vocals of their lead singer Bryan Avatar. Gothic Knights’ steel package took me by storm. The opener At Dawn You Die had me hooked instantly. The killer guitar work in this song is of the finest metal, very original and catchy as well. One of my favorites is Ring Of Souls. The opening riff just pulled me right in to the Lord Of The Rings style epic. The sound of Bryan Avatar’s voice in this song just sends adrenaline pumping through my veins unlike any other power metal singer has ever done! Keeper of the Gate is an original classic! Once again I was totally blown away with the vocal prowess of Bryan Avatar. The groovy catchy guitar riffs set the stage for Avatar to just soar up to his high registers and deliver an unbelievable performance. This song is so melodic and powerful if I didn’t hear it with my own ears I really wouldn’t believe it. The guitars in this song are just awesome, solos and all just fit right in and make this epic a complete feast to the ears. That Evil Wizard starts off a bit unorthodox but if you keep listening you will be captivated with the energetic guitar riffs, bass, drums and vocals. War in the Sky is very powerful, melodic and once again as with the rest of the CD I found myself pulled into the song. Song of Roland has a great intro and great guitar riffs throughout the whole song along with very catchy vocals.Demons Buried Within was not in tune with the rest of the CD. The angry sound of this song left a lot to be desired. From the instrumentation to Bryan Avatar’s performance. I detected a recourse of displeasure as one could sense within his voice, it just wasn’t pleasing to my ear. The cover of The Ripper was by far the best version I’ve heard since Tim "Ripper" Owens did it himself. All in all this is one CD that can be played over and over with out growing tired of the Gothic Knights sound, topped with the class act vocals of Bryan Avatar. Sad to say that the follow up CD "Up From The Ashes" was a total melodic power melt down. Totally lacked the style and power of the preceding CD. Another thing is that there is a different singer Rick Sanchez who just doesn’t convince me that he should have replaced Bryan Avatar. That is a whole different review in itself. Kingdom Of The Knights in my opinion is a 9.5 out of 10. Find it and get it.A true gemstone of US-Metal is the 99-album "Kingdom Of The Knights" by GOTHIC KNIGHTS. The artsy drawn cover alone, showing two knights with raised lances, makes you eagerly await the content. And it very impressively matches the great visuals!!! We get melodic Power Metal, perfectly played, on the highest level. No European bombast or nursery rhyme-influences, here is celebrated what the Americans had been standing for in the Eighties: Best Metal in tradition of STEEL PROPHET, OMEN, TENSION, FATES WARNING etc.The speedy opener "At Dawn You Die" already crushes any doubts and kindles a headbanging-orgy, big time! The absolutely fantastic vocals strike first, also convincing in the higher pitches. And that’s just the beginning, always straight, always heroic, here rather mid-paced, there slightly progressively tinted, then more hymnic. They just do it, the GOTHIC KNIGHTS!A wet dream for every dream of good US-steel. Only point of criticism is the unnecessary cover-version of PRIESTs "The Ripper", which AGENT STEEL had played more glorious on their "Mad Locust Rising"-EP. The rest of the album are only winners and has classic-ambitions! I already am looking forward to the third album of the knights, which should be out soon!Ralf Henn----- It is hard to believe this is the same band that recorded Up From the Ashes. I hated that major label debut of this band, as it was both appallingly bland and terminally boring. The only reason I even gave this a single listen was because I already had a copy in my archive, from the same person who had sent me their newer one. I’m so glad I gave it a chance, because it sounds almost nothing like Up From the Ashes (probably why Denis signed them in the first place). Why the band chose to go the generic power metal route for their major label debut is completely beyond me. The style they chose to use for this one is far better, and they sound like a far more talented, completely different band as a result. It’s a very 80s sound, almost like Medieval Steel or even Liege Lord at times, and although a couple of the songs don’t rule as much as the rest, I’ll take this kind of album over Up From the Ashes any day. The more I listened to it, the more I liked it, and I simply cannot believe the band recorded such an abominable shitpile as a follow-up to this amazing true metal masterpiece.A major reason this doesn’t suck is they have vocalist BRYAN AVATAR instead of Rick Sanchez, who was on both the preceding and proceeding discs. Why they have a different singer for the middle release, I have no idea, and I don’t really care either, I just know they have him. Rick Sanchez sucks, there is just no way around it, and he contributed nothing of quality to Up From the Ashes. AVATAR is so much better than Sanchez it’s not even a contest. Album opener "At Dawn You Die" is absolutely the finest steel, easily the best song I’ve ever heard from the band (by an order of 20 times or more) and a great way to open the album. "War in the Sky" isn’t great, but "Ring of Souls" is quite good. I absolutely love the track "Song of Roland", which starts with a crazy dive bombing/climbing guitar duel before going for a stomping 80s riff that will get your head banging 100 percent guaranteed. This is killer stuff in the vein of Medieval Steel, no question! "Demons Buried" is not that great, but still better than anything off Up From the Ashes. "That Evil Wizard" brought an immediate smile to my face, with its silly narrated intro, and immediately stomping into a killer riff with great vocals to match. "Keeper of the Gate" might be the best song on an album of great songs. This is just fantastic, powerful steel to raise your sword and scream to, the kind of stuff we always knew Medieval Steel was capable of, but never got around to releasing. "Ohhhhhh, KEEPER OF THE GATE!! Ohhhhhh!!"I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard the thing with my own ears: This album just fucking rules! Flaws and all, it is still one of the best "true metal" albums I’ve ever heard, and I like to think I’ve heard most of them by now. If you’ve only heard Up From the Ashes you’ll want to give the band a second chance, as despite that disaster, I have to admit that Kingdom of the Knights is an amazing, timeless album for devotees of classic steel. The 80s will live forever! Highly, highly recommended! Year released: 1999 Duration: 43:14 Tracks: 8 Genre: Heavy MetalRating: 5/5Date reviewed: July 5, 2004 Reviewed by: Lord RequiemCopyright © 1999-2007, Michel Renaud. All Rights Reserved. 0.008200