adg211288 Knutson's Return (2013) is the debut EP by German speed metal act Masters Of Disguise. It's been released just shy of their debut full-length album Back with a Vengeance (2013), and contains three tracks. The two originals included on the EP also appear on the album while the third is a cover of the Savage Grace song Into the Fire, taken from their album Master of Disguise (1985), from which the band also took their name. Their connection to the other band is slightly more than influence and homage; all four instrumentalists performed as live musicians with Savage Grace between 2009 - 2010.

The music on Knutson's Return is energetic speed metal more or less although middle track Alliance has some strong nods towards traditional heavy metal while there are some light influences of power metal to be heard. Mostly Knutson's Return's is a thoroughly retro sounding affair, and the two original tracks are clearly written to emulate Savage Grace in every way possible if the cover version of Into the Fire is anything to go by.

They may their influences on their sleeves but Masters Of Disguise pulled off a good first EP here. As a brief introduction to what they're all about you can't go far wrong, but I'll be moving onto my promo copy of Back with a Vengeance right away on the basis of how fun Knutson's Return was to listen to. Given that the album is already out as of my writing this review (if this review hadn't been near done when I realised that I'd probably have just reviewed the album) and two thirds of Knutson's Return is included on it, that may be your best bet also. That said there's no reason not to give Knutson's Return a 'great' tier rating based on musical merits.

78/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/masters-of-disguise-knutson-s-return-t3270.html)