By: Anders

Posted: Jan 14, 2006

This is more or less Occult with a new name, the band choose to change the name after they signed with Massacre Records, to get a fresh start. So let's leave Occult behind and concentrate fully on Legion Of The Damned, and let the band have it their way, and it is of course them and their music it is about!

The band delivers death/thrash with the biggest weight on thrash to be honest, great shredding riffs are being delivered by the guitars, there are some great riffs on the album, not something we haven't heard before, but they kick ass in this context, that's a fact. The pace is shifting a lot, all from slow to mid-tempo bashing and 'banging, to faster double kick attacks and fast riffing. The drumming is good and varied, but not that much more than expected, there are some good fills and breaks though. The bass is mean and very heavy, keeping the rhythm in a good grip, while it rumbles away beneath the guitars.

The vocals are the most impressive on this release, it compliments the music really good and adds the last icing to the cake. The scream from Maurice is frustrated and on the edge, raw and ugly, a bit reminiscent to Mille Petrozza once in a while, if I have to make a comparison… Spiced up with a bit of growling now and then, though the thrashy scream dominates and that's great.

If you get high on good old school brutal as fuck thrash with a touch of dark and relentless death metal, then Legion Of The Damned is your band. It is not groundbreaking or anything near that, just pure smashing metal, the way it was meant to be, and that is always nice. I really dig this album, but I guess it won't be a treat for everybody, though if I liked Occult, you'd most likely dig Legion Of The Damned as well, and if you're into the music similar to the description above, then you'll dig "Malevolent Rapture" as well.

Rating: 7/10

Legion Of The Damned website

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