I had an itch for Power Metal that needed to be scratched the other day. So I went and checked out Terra Atlantica, and that pretty much did it for me… for that day. Yeah, I needed to scratch the itch again; this time with the ultra-Helloween-ish (from the Walls of Jericho era) band Armoured Knight.

Hailing from Peñaflor/Talagante, Santiago, Chile, these four psychos play their brand of brutality in the vein of yes, like I said, Walls of Jericho era Helloween, and they’re pretty fucking good at it.

It’s a good thing too because this is their debut full-length after releasing the Apocalyptic Warriors demo (2012), Prophecy of Tomorrow EP (2014), Ashes of Glory Single (2017), The Sacred Flame EP (2020), and then A Journey’s End Compilation (2022), and now they’ve resurfaced, I guess you could say.

Whatever the case, The Quest for the Sacred Melody is a cracking good album heavily influenced by the likes of Helloween, Blind Guardian, and Sanctuary.

From the first track, “Wielders of Dark Wisdom”, Armoured Knight hit you with a spiked gauntlet to your face. It’s an unrelenting opening salvo, with even the production echoing the glorious tone of the ’80s.

“Age of Speeches” brandishes that Walls of Jericho influence like a scepter; the tone on this track ratchets up the 80s vibes to eleven in terms of speed and precision riffs. It’s a shredding track, and that’s just one great moment on The Quest for the Sacred Melody; be sure that there are many to come.

 

“Endless Light” starts off with this crazy-cool riff that rings out until the song starts marching along. It has a massive Sanctuary feeling to it, especially their Refuge Denied record. “Forgotten Grace” comes out swinging with a badass riff that keeps the speed at Mach ten and has more of a Blind Guardian feel to it. It’s a face shredder that demands full-on headbanging.

“Run From Here” is suitably fast and heavy as a pair of iron balls. These choruses are huge, these riffs are fat as fuck, and vocalist José Tapia has pipes for days! I swear to fuck, this is an incredibly enjoyable debut album, and I’m looking forward to their next already.

“Oath of the Sacred Melody” features this amazing solo section at the midway point that is so sick that you have to hear it for yourself. It’s another sort of Blind Guardian meets Gamma Ray thrasher that’s got some killer ambient effects going on in the background as well, adding some emotion to the song.

Last two tracks “Behind the Mask” and “Guardians of the Stargates”, the former being a roller-coaster ride that hits like a ton of bricks, it’s so ridiculously fast that it slams into the latter like an out-of-control freight train. That one is a mid-paced thrasher that goes for broke, heading for the finish line.

As far as debut albums go, The Quest for the Sacred Melody is one of the best I’ve heard this year, I’m not even fucking lying. This is for the people who love Helloween, Sanctuary, Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray (because why not?!)

Go forth and obtain a copy of this powerful Thrash Metal album!

[Visit the band's website]

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