Rock Knights Arise!
No Remorse Records proudly presents the debut full-length of up-and-coming Swiss Heavy Metallers AMETHYST!
AMETHYST was conceived in the year of the plague 2020 out of an ardent desire and passion to play Heavy Rock as raw and pure as the elders did in the glorious years of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Driven by the flame of this music of old, Miguel and Yves embarked on a quest for like-minded souls up for the task. In the months that followed they were found indeed and by spring 2022 the line-up as we know today, compromising of Freddy on vocals, Yves and Ramon on guitars, Miguel on bass and Eldo on drums, was complete.
The same year saw the recordings of the “Rock Knights” EP finally released in spring 2023, which took the scene by surprise and quickly became a favorite for many fans of hard rock and classic heavy metal, while the band stand out among many other newcomers. AMETHYST reached for the stars and its ascent sees no slowing down, quite on the contrary! Many concerts followed in which the band unleashed its passionate songs on wild crowds. Those for example that bore witness to their second ever show at the prestigious Muskelrock festival in Sweden certainly have a story to tell their grandchildren as it would seem!
A dozen of more shows at renowned festivals like Keep It True Rising, Chaos Descends and Steel City Sorcery followed. After completing eight more hymns of unbridled passion, the band retreated into their dungeon to record their debut album “Throw Down the Gauntlet” in the early months of 2024, due to be released in September of the same year by No Remorse Records. The band tasted blood and is hungry for more and there seems to be no slowing… let’s see what the future will bring!
The album was engineered, mixed and mastered by Eldo at City of Gold Studio, Switzerland. Cover photography by Tomi Palinkas. Layout by Annick Giroux.
LINE-UP
Frëddy – Vocals
Ramon – Electric Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Yves – Electric, Rhythm and Lead Guitar
Miguel Sanchez – Electric Bass Guitar
Eldo – Drums
REVIEW
AMETHYST’s Rock Knights EP from 2022 was one that I found myself a huge fan of. “Chasing Shadows” and “Stormchild” being the two tracks I enjoyed the most, loving the 70s tinge to the band’s sound. The production that made it feel like an album from the period that it mays homage to, which I’ve come to find is a big thing for me when it comes to enjoying NWOTHM. Since the release of that EP, I’ve wondered what Amethyst would do next, and when it would come, and now here it is.
AMETHYST boast an amazing logo design, that I think looks even better in red than in the white and black that I’ve seen prior. Random thing I appreciate being the angle of the logo (I’m a nerd for this stuff, okay?), a lot of bands flip it the other way (\), but AMETHYST’s is like this (/) and I think that makes it stand out. I also love the album cover, it’s unique and has just the right amount of corniness to it.
“Embers on the Loose”. Excellent riffing that manages to be both a homage to NWOBHM and late 70s heavy prog. Frëddy’s vocals have only improved since the EP, having a style and charisma all their own, while still not sounding different enough to be off-putting. Eldo and Miguel, the drums and bass respectively, really brought their A-game for this one, the groove that they pushed throughout was masterful. Include in a great guitar solo, and this was a hell of a way to start off the album.
“Stand Up and Fight”. Continuing much of the same excellence as the previous track, I found myself craving something to make this one stand out a bit more. My craves were answered at the 2:20 mark with a gnarly drum break that bled right into the guitar solo. After that, I felt that the track really came into its own, particularly near the 4:30 mark when Frëddy’s vocals really began to shine through.
“Won’t Do It Again”. A nice smooth chugging bassline kicked this one off, coupled by more insane drumming from Eldo, and a very NWOBHM inspired riff. Once the first verse passes by, AMETHYST crank things up a notch by ushering in a brief sequence that I can only describe as shred-like. It reminded me of ‘show off songs’, that bands will make to shows just what they can do (think METALLICA “Hit the Lights”). Another solo hits at the 3 minute mark that I might prefer over the previous, purely for its melodic nature.
“Running Out of Time”. Damn that opening guitar is gorgeous! Here it dawned on me that the closest comparison I can think of for Frëddy’s vocals would have to be Christoffer from Norway’s FLIGHT. This track was a proper earworm, with an impossibility to not sing along to the chorus. While running at over 5 minutes, it never felt like it overstayed its welcome and in fact breezed by. We’re batting 4 for 4 right now!
“Rock Knights”. Once again, AMETHYST are giving it 100%, with excellent melodic leads to start things off. Given the title being the same as their debut EP, I’m going to assume that this track was originally meant for that release. The tempo shift at the 2:10 mark was pure magic, love the guitar work that follows it.
“Queen of a Thousand Burning Hearts”. This track wins the award for ‘Coolest song title on the album’. Mesmerising melodic guitar work to begin things, and the riff that followed was pure trad goodness. As with the rest of the album, this was an exceptional track that I never felt tired of. The interlude with a woman giving a brief spoken piece was a great touch to really take this one to the next level.
“Take Me Away”. A bit more straightforward, and dare I say formulaic, affair was this one. It’s in no way bad, and certainly has it’s moments, particularly the guitar solo. Yet, I felt that it was missing something to really push it over the edge, ya know?
“Serenade (Under the Rising Moon)”. Opening on a bit of a slower note with a nice build-up to it. The chorus cuts like a knife in this one (in a good way), and like the rest of the album thus far, the instrumentation is exceptional. AMETHYST has it. Being the longest track on the album, a nearly 7 minutes, it never felt like it.
CONCLUSION
A new Album of the Year contender has entered the chat. While Rock Knights (the EP) was a wonderful opening salvo for AMETHYST, Throw Down the Gauntlet improves upon it in every way. With more sophisticated songwriting, and a real growth for the band as a whole. Each of the five members had their own moments to shine and showcase the extent of their abilities. With luck, AMETHYST could go on to become a major player in the trad metal scene for years to come.
The NWOTHM Score: 9.5/10
AMETHYST’s “Throw Down the Gauntlet” releases on 27 September, 2024
>>>>ORDER/PRE-ORDER HERE<<<<
The Nwothm 
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