Silent Knight has long been Perth Australia’s big players on the Power Metal scene, armed with songs to take on the world; you feel that it’s just a matter of time despite the remoteness of their location for this band to break out big.
After an impressive string of supports and releases since forming in 2011, ‘Conquer and Command’ stands proud, maybe even more so than their essential debut album ‘Masterplan’ from 2013: and that really is saying something.
With a sound that rides some glorious guitars and intense melodies you start to think of bands like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Stormwarrior even the grandfathers of it all Iron Maiden, but there’s also a toke of early Gamma Ray and a dash Iced Earth and Megadeth in the mix: great names and company to be in.
‘Conquer and Command’ has it all for lovers of the genre and the band seem to have learnt from sharing the stage with the likes of Paul DiAnno and Blaze Bayley, as well as Helloween, Zakk Wylde and Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson as well as the best Australian talent.
Opening with the intricate melodic guitar of ‘Call to Arms’ this is an album that gets more compelling the more you hear, with each new track underlining the promise of what has gone before. Starting with the fiery opener and title track ‘Conquer and Command’ seeks to leave no stone unturned experimenting with tracks like ‘Empty Threat’ before unleashing the real soul of the band on ‘The Strike of the Sword’ which really brings home the great vocals of new addition Jesse Onur Oz.
As you dig deeper tracks like ‘The Raven’s Return’ seek to leave you breathless and really show the progression as if the band said “OK Masterplan was cool, let’s go to 11 on this one!” Original closer ‘Power metal Supreme’ is the crowning glory and distillation of it all – a real fist-pumping anthem to seal a very impressive album. The cover that follows of the Europe classic ‘The Final Countdown’ just says it all – a great take on a song I never thought I wanted to hear again – the fact that Silent Knight can make it their own shows the confidence of the band.
Unmissable for fans of Power Metal worldwide.
