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AMETHYST
Throw Down The Gauntlet

No Remorse (2024)
Rating: 8/10

Clearly these denim n’ leather rockers couldn’t find a more original band name, but let’s hope that with this debut full-length album they’ll let the music do the taking. Amethyst are from Switzerland and they are here to bang heads with their classic heavy metal brand.

Like some early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal throwback, Amethyst hit their stride immediately with ‘Embers On The Loose’, striking like Metallica’s ‘Hit The Lights’ but with a more organic shimmer of rust and soul. The cover photo pretty much sums up this sweaty and nostalgic rock machine, although the band is also rather elegant in its sound, almost wistfully breezing through the songs with boisterous gallops plucked straight from the old Iron Maiden rulebook.

Rumbles of Angel Witch are evident throughput this eight track affair, the band effortlessly tapping into an era that many would have missed as Thin Lizzy, Cirith Ungol and the more recent Tanith come to mind, but such fluid compositions as ‘Rock Knights’ and ‘Queen Of A Thousand Burning Hearts’ slither ’neath the portcullis and along crumbling castle walls before finding themselves etched in ancient stone.

The multitude of riffs on display here are rather gorgeous examples of molten fire, briskly flirting with occasional punk nuances and classic fluid steel. Vocalist Frëddy (aka Fredric Ekbørg) exudes a warmth that caresses the ears like the vintage crackle of a late 70s hi-fi, his tone almost spectral as he guides us through the silky ‘Stand Up And Fight’ and mesmeric closer ‘Serenade (Under The Rising Moon)’, with its galloping bass and slick axe work.

Play this album alongside the latest Elle Tea outing (The Past From Which I Ran) and become bewitched by the sizzling melodies and retro wafts. If any of you gals n’ guys like trawling the depths of YouTube search for obscure heavy metal then Throw Down The Gauntlet just might quench your thirst for such long forgotten gems. For example, the familiar yet cosy canter of ‘Take Me Away’ which bridges the gap between those tricky Thin Lizzy leads and the musty nature of early Iron Maiden.

By no means original, Throw Down The Gauntlet is still magically nostalgic and an essential purchase if you like your metal simple yet authentic.

Neil Arnold

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