heavy-metal-darkness: Black Knight | The Tower

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Black Knight | The Tower | Independent

Release date: July 5th, 2025
Format: Digital, CD
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: Netherlands

Black Knight was born in 1982, a year packed with classic metal sparks. They grew from demo warriors into a band that finally made noise with the debut “Tales From The Darkside” in 1998. Tours across Benelux, Germany and Bulgaria pushed their name forward and the follow up “The Beast Inside” in 2007 built their reputation even more. Through every change in membership, Rudo Plooy kept the wheels turning on drums.

In 2020 they returned with “Road To Victory”, which brought strong attention from fans and press worldwide. The pandemic held back the planned tour, but by 2022 the band was once again on festival stages with new vocalist Henk Overbosch and the renewed line up. Their 40 year live release came the same year, proving that the band still means business on stage.

Now Black Knight arrives with “The Tower”, an album built with harder guitar themes, hints of progressive imagination and melodies that stay loyal to their heavy metal roots. The album points at unity, strength and a call to break down the walls that separate people, all through the power of metal expression.

“The Tower” delivers a kind of heavy metal that moves with firm energy. The guitars set a strong foundation for the album and bring a steady punch across these songs. There is a clear intention to sound bigger than before, and the riffs carry that idea with confidence. The progressive touches do not twist the band into strange corners, they simply add layers that keep the songs interesting from start to finish. The vocals play a major role. Henk Overbosch brings a tone that fits the mix, with a melodic approach that rises over the riffs without drifting into anything too theatrical. He gives the songs a sense of forward push and keeps the narrative straight.

The rhythm section works in a dependable way. The band sounds locked in, delivering a metal album that respects the roots of traditional heavy metal while pushing for stronger impact through heavier guitars and more adventurous writing. The album has moments where its ambition works very well and other moments where the ideas flatten out a little. There is quality in the songwriting, though sometimes the songs stick to similar shapes and tones. Even so, the flow of the album stays steady and the stronger tracks pull the weaker ones forward.

Overall, “The Tower” is a solid return from a band with four decades behind them. It does not chase trends. It does not try to dress itself in anything fancy. It delivers heavy metal with grit, confidence and energy, shaped by experience and long years on stage. There is a clear sense that Black Knight still has much to say and the flame inside to say it. There are times to wonder why there's isn't a reliable label to release such a decent album.

Score: 8.0