Legion Of Doom ‎"For Those Of The Blood" CD Digipack

This might be Legion Of Doom's hardest to appreciate release; in many regards, it's very inconsistent, and in many ways seems remarkably different from the rest of the band's catalog; even 'The Desecration' and its strange forays into Bathory worship seem a more immediate partner to albums like 'Kingdom Of Endless Darkness' than this one in numerous places. This isn't to say that 'For Those Of The Blood' isn't a worthwhile listen; like all of Legion Of Doom's full-length releases, it's excellent throughout and is worthy of a great deal more attention than the band typically receives. What I am saying, however, is that this is probably not as essential as releases like the first LP or 'God Is Dead', but is certainly an item you'll want to pick up if you want to the full Legion Of Doom catalog; if you just want the barest essentials of the band's output, you might look elsewhere.
The essential thing making this such a difficult listen, surprisingly enough, is the album's brevity. Clocking in at barely over a half hour, and with a significant amount of that time swallowed up by a pair of neoclassical/folk tracks devoid of the band's customary black metal fury, this is a very lean release that barely has enough time to conjure an atmosphere before it ends. In some ways it feels incomplete; the stark difference in production between the opening track and the rest points to this being closer to a compilation than a complete work, although all the songs contained on this disc are strong and worth hearing. I'd be lying, though, if I said the relative thinness of content wasn't at least a bit irritating; just a few more tracks could have done a lot to make this album a more complete picture of the band at this time, though I'm certainly not complaining about the quality of the material actually present.
The music itself is a faster paced and more aggressive variety of what's found on 'Kingdom Of Endless Darkness': epic yet understated black metal with subtle undercurrents of traditional metal, yet almost completely and notably devoid of thrash. The result of this intentional repression of rock and roll influence makes for very stark and grandiose music that at no point feels like it's striving to be so, though certain points on 'For Those Of The Blood' feel closer to more open displays of dogma than elsewhere in the band's catalog. This album brings a more extensive and fundamental use of keys, which are actually used as a main melodic voice ala Slavic symphonic black metal on tracks like 'Narjniians Eternal Winter'. Unlike bands such as Nokturnal Mortum and early Lucifugum, however, the keys never seem to be used to add an established variety of beauty to the mix; they're used to accentuate the dark and wintry landscape the band crafts with simple, textured guitar riffs and Abbath-squared vocal snarls.
Legion Of Doom has an affinity for generating atmospheres that are at once austere and rich in their austerity, and this album doesn't buck that trend. Tracks like the aforementioned opener follow in the footsteps of 'Kingdom Of Endless Darkness', using slowly and gradually shifting song structures to make for songs which end up being much more than the sum of their parts. Every track on this album, including some of the shorter, more blistering ones, feels heavily composed and likely the result of long periods of refinement. Tempo shifts are infrequent, allowing the music to follow its own path without being unnecessarily plotted out by unsure musicians. The production is a bit problematic; the guitars are at a strange register that makes them nearly impossible to hear if there's any background noise (unless you're wearing headphones), so keep that in mind; it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't hear anything on his release, but a couple listens in relative solitude managed to fix that.
The brevity of this release annoys me, but I can in no way deny the pure quality of the music on display. Legion Of Doom does not lose step at all from 'Kingdom Of Endless Darkness', and even the interlude tracks are engaging and enrapturing in their dignified simplicity; while it's short for my tastes, it does somewhat make up for it by never having a dull moment. While this is not the most essential Legion Of Doom release, it's highly recommended to black metal fans whose ears have matured; a little bit of time and focus reveals music lightyears beyond what most are cranking out, and certainly exactly the sort of thing many are looking for if burnt out on the tropes of the style.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...