GAUNTLET RULE
“After The Kill”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Gauntlet Rule are a heavy metal band from Sweden formed in 2019 by guitarist Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Massacre), and bass player Peter Svensson (Assassin’s Blade, Void Moon), releasing the bands debut album ‘The Plague Court’ in 2022. Completing the line-up for the bands sophomore album ‘After The Kill’ is vocalist Teddy Moller (Loch Vostok), guitarist Kjetil Lynghaug and drummer Marcus Rosenkvist.

Released in 2024, ‘After The Kill’ is eleven songs and fifty two foot to the floor minutes of fast paced heavy metal, Gauntlet Rule firing on all cylinders to deliver immense head bang ability to a worldwide audience – and right from the off too, ‘Usurper’ charging outta the blocks at a hundred miles a fucking hour! The band are in full flight here, pressing the pedal firmly to the metal as ‘Usurper’ violently rocks the heads back and forth of every single listener everywhere! A simply sensational start from the Swedish metallers only gets better as ‘Exception To The Rule’ enters the fray with both feet planted on the old school heavy metal monitor, the band oozing an incredible traditional metal sound. I tell ya readers, everyone from here to the nineteen eighties and back are gonna be boasting one of the biggest grins ever seen!

And bringing an anthemic foot stomp to the fore, ‘Drumhead Trial’ shudders the ground as Gauntlet Rule drop a few gears from the blistering pace of the opening brace, the air heavy with the bombastic claps of deafening thunder – what a threesome to begin your new album with! Featuring additional vocals from Assassin’s Blade frontman Jacques Belanger, ‘Bite The Hand That Feeds’ is a searing rampage of thrash come heavy metal, the band moving to the much heavier end of the metal genre to deliver a scorching turn of speed, the tempo and pace exactly what you’d find in head banging heaven! Which is where every listener, fan and follower is right now, ‘After The Kill’ bursting with head bang ability! I reckon Gauntlet Rule only know one way to metal – fast and furiously! And rough too, ‘Vengeance’ a rougher, tougher and gruffer song than everything heard so far, the band maintaining their proud stance right in the heart of heavy metal territory – territory owned for the last four decades by the likes of Iron Maiden, Helloween, Grave Digger and Manowar.

Are we looking – or rather listening to, the next band to rule the roost for the coming four decades? Maybe, just maybe – Gauntlet Rule storming on at high velocity with ‘The Zero Crag’, and a head bang ability level that’s just shot through the fucking roof! The intensity since ‘After The Kill’ began has been immensely strong, much stronger than gravity! And we all know how strong gravity is – keeps us all from falling off the face of the planet for fuck’s sake! Returning the heavy foot stomp from earlier, ‘Empire Maker’ emphatically thunders across the land, shaking every building in every town and city to its foundations, the band a force of nature that just can’t be tamed! And the acceleration in speed during the songs second half is simply stunning – ‘The Night Wind’ maintaining the albums overall electrifying pace and power! Just what the hell have the Swedes been feeding on for the last two years to turn in such a commanding performance? Fucked if I know, but it’s done ’em the power of good whatever it was!

‘Aeronauts’ (apparently a CD only bonus song) rockets off at high speed, Gauntlet Rule going supersonic for this one, the band leaving the sound barrier way behind as ‘Aeronauts’ blazes a fiery trail across the skies! The energy level too is way off the charts, ‘Aeronauts’ more energetic than a thousand rampant rabbits – the album roaring on with the title song ‘After The Kill’. Featuring additional vocals from White Skull frontwoman Federica De Boni, ‘After The Kill’ (the song) is a thunder stomp mighty enough to knock planet Earth of its axis – for the first minute or so anyway, the band changing through the gears to storm off at a phenomenal pace! The change in tempo and feel from the first minute is staggering, Gauntlet Rule effortlessly running up and down the metal spectrum – the album coming to a close with more menace than heard any where else courtesy of the doom laden ‘The Scythe’. And just like ‘After The Kill’ (the song), the band roar through the gears after the first minute or so to scorch the earth with phenomenal pace! What an intense, infectious, and incredibly intoxicating listen ‘After The Kill’ (the album) is!

Overall, a barnstorming barrage of fast paced, foot to the floor, traditional heavy metal with immense head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

Usurper
Exception To The Rule
Drumhead Trial
Bite The Hand That Feeds
Vengeance
The Zero Crag
Empire Maker
The Night Wind
Aeronauts (CD bonus)
After The Kill
The Scythe

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