DRAGONKNIGHT – “Legions” (2025)

We will kick off the year with a Power Metal debut, from the Finnish band DRAGONKNIGHT. I believe there is no complaint as far as new entries are concerend, we have quite a few recently and with “Legions” boasting a cinematic and epic approach while bundled with an amazing cover (that gave me strong Dark Souls 3/ Nameless King vibes by the way), my interest was easily piqued. One thing to note about the band is that aside vocalist Mikael Salo, we do not have the identities of the rest group. We know they are Finnish Metal veterans and just that, but I would like to know who they are as the experience of the musicians, their other bands etc. all play a role when reviewing something. I will leave it here due to lack of further knowledge, but I hope the reason is other than a marketing trick.

As always the end product is what will come out of our speakers, that is what matters most so let’s see what we have. As per the press release their music is for fans of BLIND GUARDIAN, SABATON, HELLOWEEN but the good news is, this comparison is not what defines DRAGONKNIGHT. There are hints of those bands but they are more like scattered details, you may fing during ‘The revelation’ a part reminds you of BLIND GUARDIAN, or that the riff of ‘Sword of the northern lights’ is similar to SABATON. Yet if you asked me to correlate DRAGONKNIGHT with one band I could not answer that, on the contrary they blend many inspirations in a way that the result sounds rich and diverse, but also cohesive which is also important.

The cinematic part is also true but in a different way that you would expect, at least it is different from the orchestration heavy definition of Luca Turilli and RHAPSODY. There are of course some on spot orchestrations like in ‘Defender of dragons’, but you will always feel that the band is the protagonist and that the Metal instruments are the core of the experience. The use of keys along with the epic and bombastic nature of the songs, combines gracefully with things like the fantasy themed lyrics or some discreet choirs to justify the cinematic label.

The songs themselves are interesting and hide nice details that prove that the members had their inspiration running during the creation of the album. One example is the glorious transition from verse to chorus on ‘Imperator’, or the chorus of ‘Pirates Bloody Pirates!’ with the cannonball sounds and some high pitched vocals. My favorite track ended up as ‘Dead kings in the grave’ because I liked its main riff first and foremost, but all other parts were spot on as well. The only composition that did not sit well with me is the ballad like ‘Astarte rise’, so overall I would say the scales effortesly turn in favor of the band.

This time I have an undeniable evidence that “Legions” is worthy for me. I have received the promo for quite some time now, so I had the opportunity to see how my sentiment evolves as the weeks go by. The result is that in every instance I am about to revisit DRAGONKNIGHT’s fantasy world, I do so with anticipation. It is too early to say grand things about them, but their debut left me with surprisingly good impressions. The way I experienced their music, it had a growing effect on me rather than striking gold from the first listen but I can see its aura persisting throughout the year. If it is a good time to be a Power Metal fan, now you have one more reason. With a cohesive song and album structure that builds a great flow, cinematic elements that enhance and not smother, an epic atmosphere standing triumphant and a diverse collection of tracks, “Legions” adds the first foundations for a musically strong year.

85/100

Pavlos Pavlakis 

100: Godsent

90s: Excellent

80s: Very good

70s: Good

60s: Can be enjoyable

50s: Uninspired

40s: Bad

0s -30s: Unlistenable