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When you saw the name Knight & Gallow, you had to suspect this Sacramento, CA band plays some kind of epic, "true," traditional, etc. heavy metal and you'd be right. With lyrics based on Tolkien, Moorcock, Norse mythology and all sorts of things sword and sorcery, Knight & Gallow are primed to jump into the melee with their debut album, For Honor and Bloodshed. This kind of music trades on the riffs and the band do a nice job with them but I am not a huge fan of the vocals, which are a bit high and lack the weight I like in my epic metal. The singer also uses a scream on "God's Will" that is atrocious. Thankfully, it is only on this song and only occasionally. Another problem I have with For Honor and Bloodshed is the production, which is direct and immediate, like on a thrash album, and many of the songs don't have enough room to breathe. "Men of the West," "Black Swordsman" and "Soul of Cinder" get around this with some good guitar work, but on "Godless," the band sound like Metallica. On the whole, For Honor and Bloodshed is a bit "Jekyll and Hyde" in terms of atmosphere and, like the infamous London doctor and his alter ego, they don't play all that well together. Knight & Gallow have some good ideas, but the way they are presented does them no favors, so this is a band that needs work.