This American quartet has me pretty much divided. Not very often do I listen to an album that at the same time manages to compel me as well as disgust me. Gothic Knights play old school heavy metal with small hints at more modern power metal. The whole CD screams cliché; think of song titles like “Power And The Glory”, “Warrior Of Faith” and “The 13th Warrior” and cover artwork that includes a sword and you know what I mean. To make things worse, the first track starts of as a pretty standard heavy metal track that neither shines cause of its brilliant lyrics nor its brilliant melodies.

A pretty bad start I have to admit and after listening to this album for about 15 minutes or so I was about to discard it as: standard melodic heavy metal we have heard a million times before. But then somehow something changes as the Knights soothingly start the intro of the heavy old school “Vampyre”, all of a sudden they awake memories of Iced Earth. The comparison becomes even more striking during the excellent “Sleepy Hollow”, the guitars gallop and singer Rick Sanchez screams at the top of his lungs.

Things get a whole lot better from there on; another mystery, usually albums tend to become more boring the closer they near the end.

The production of Up From The Ashes is good with the guitars and drums pushed into the front, not sterile or emotionless. Singer Rick has a good voice but lacks some power. He also seems to struggle with the more melodic parts, especially during the tenth track “Dear Queen”. This is the only ballad on the album and somehow Rick’s voice doesn’t fit in. In fact, he sounds at his best while he is screaming at the top of his lungs which he should do more often.

Up From The Ashes is a very decent old school melodic heavy metal album and although filled with clichés it’s nevertheless worth listening. The quality of the songs isn’t always up to par, but several excellent tracks like “Sleepy Hollow” and “The 13th Warrior” make up for the weaker ones. Gothic Knights are yet another American underground act who deserve more attention.