Sometimes, when you review a band and their album, you come across a group that takes you right back in time. KNIGHTS OF THE REALM are such a three-piece Heavy Rock/Metal from Sweden that have lifted my spirits this week. Larry 'The Hammer' Shield (Lars Sköld) has toured the globe and recorded with legendary band TIAMAT. Megalomagnus (Magnus Henriksson) has been making history with his band Eclipse since the end of the nineties. Mean Machine (Marcus Von Boisman) has been working in the shadows of metal for many years and played with Swedish bands WINDUPDEADS and STORMEN.

The album starts as if the mighty RAINBOW is back in action, with Ronnie Romero singing on "An August Play" and even more so on "Into The Void". After these two the scene changes and goes into SAXON mode with the fast-paced stomping song aptly titled "Heavy Metal". KNIGHTS OF THE REALM already have me very interested. I can confess that from "Fields Of Fire" onward they actually have mee hooked, as this has me reliving eighties DOKKEN, "Tooth And Nail" and "Under Lock and Key" era.

Sometimes the resemblance is blatant, as not only the atmosphere but also the riffs have been borrowed from the original. Just listen to "Chains Of Metal", "Steel My Heart" and the forementioned "Fields Of Fire". Guitarist Magnus Henriksson has eaten a lot of George Lynch pie and has easily equalled his style of play on "Knights Of The Realm". The one song that is just a bit different is "When Metal Meets The Beast", as that has a definite SAXON feel to it. Top that with the perfect voice of Marcus Von Boisman and what you get is in total just over thirty-eight minutes of pure old-fashioned pleasure. I know this album is going to make a lot of turns in my cd player and on my smartphone.

One thing I need to tell you is that when you look at all the titles used throughout the album, it is true. Lyrically KNIGHTS OF THE REALM just keep on proclaiming their love of Heavy Metal. And I'm loving it to bits. So, if you really love your old-fashioned Hard Rocking Melodic Heavy Metal and you don't mind bands rehashing old tunes and turning them into their own beautiful songs you really can't go wrong with KNIGHTS OF THE REALM. Please just bring on the next album! Pronto!!