THE KNIGHTMOVES

Having parted ways with Euan Lowson following the muted reception of The Sentinel, Pallas picked up a new frontman in the form of Abel Ganz' singer Alan Reed and wasted little time in recording some demos, workshopping some songs, and turning out this EP, the first officially released output of the Reed-fronted band. One of the issues The Sentinel had was that there was something of a stark difference between the commercially-oriented tracks (Eyes In the Night, Shock Treatment, and Cut and Run) and the more prog-oriented material, and Knightmoves finds the band finding a compromise between the punch and power of the former and the intricacies of the latter to develop a new sound prior to attempting their second album, The Wedge.

As we now know, The Wedge would be their last gasp of the 1980s, with the band eventually entering hibernation before they reemerged with 1998's Beat the Drum. However, if you'd heard this at the time you might have thought there was every reason to be hopeful. Sanctuary is probably the best track, but the terser Stranger and Nightmare also have their charms, and in general the band seem to be doing a good job of developing and evolving their sound.