Artist: Legion of the Damned
Title: Descent Into Chaos
Genre: Thrash Metal
Release Date: 7th January 2011
Label: Massacre Records
Album Review
In 2004, LEGION OF THE DAMNED formed following the demise of OCCULT. They are a Dutch Thrash Metal band with Death Metal influences; the lyrics deal with occult and religious themes as well as horror and apocalypse. Their debut record ‘Malevolent Rapture’ was released in 2006 and ever since, the band put out a record every year on a regular basis. The newest creation is entitled ‘Descent Into Chaos’.
After a short intro, ‘Night of the Sabbath’ lines out the direction the album is going to take: fast riffs accompanied with brutal drumming and Maurice’s remarkable, violent vocals. Compared to their previous albums, hardly anything has been changed with regard to song structures or speed. The following ‘War is in my Blood’ includes some disharmonic melodies, which create a certain tension and are well-combined with the lyrics. ‘Shrapnel Rain’ begins with some heavy, yet slow rhythms; the song only slowly starts to put on speed but convinces with a grooving and harsh attitude. The fifth composition makes up for this slowness with demanding drumming and some unusual changes of tempo. In general, this song is more technical than the others and not as catchy.
‘Killzone’, on contrast to this, continues in typical LEGION OF THE DAMNED manner: straight to the face, brutal, with a remarkable chorus - Death/Thrash Metal as it is supposed to be - definitely a highlight of the album. ‘Lord of the flies’ is (with 5 minutes and a bit) the longest track of the album and commences with a solo guitar phrase, which veers soon towards SLAYER-orientated riffs and shredding. Presumably, the lyrics for this song were inspired by the equally-entitled novel. Track number eight is again fast from the very beginning onwards and includes group-shouts as well as rather monotonous guitar elements. ‘The Hand of Darkness’ is situated in the middle-tempo sector and relatively plain except for some hall-effects in the second half of the song.
‘Repossessed’ lines out, what the Dutch can do best: fast guitar shredding without any extras or compromises - another highlight. For the buyers of a limited edition, a re-mastered version of the 2006 song ‘Legion of the Damned’ featuring Peter Tägtgren (producer of the album and head of HYPOCRISY) can be found as last track on the CD. To put it all into a nutshell, LEGION OF THE DAMNED again provide a solid album with lots of shredding. Obviously, they do not reinvent the wheel; there are no surprises included. Yet fans of the genre and band are not mistaken in buying this record.
Tracklist
01. Descent Into Chaos
02. Night of the Sabbath
03. War Is In My Blood
04. Shrapnel Rain
05. Holy Blood Holy War
06. Killzone
07. Lord of the Flies
08. Desolation Empire
09. The Hand of Darkness
10. Repossessed
11. Legion of the Damned (Bonus Track featuring Peter Tägtgren)
Line-up
Maurice Swinkels – Vocals
Richard Ebisch – Guitar
Harold Gielen – Bass
Erik Fleuren – Drums
Website
www.myspace.com/legionofthedamned / http://www.legionofthedamned.net/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound:9
Extras: 9 (Bonus Track)
Total: 9 / 10
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