The Legion have been around over 10 years now, and when i heard their 2006 release "Revocation", i thought the band had finally reached their peak. But 2009 proved me wrong, with the release of a delicious follow up entitled "A Bliss To Suffer". Following their modern, memorable and death metal peppered black metal path, The Legion have produced a very well paced and generally impressive album.
The album is good from start to finish, kicking off with the excellent "Shining Redemption", a catchy but intense track that will have you singing "SHIIIINING REDEEEEMPTION" with vocalist Martinsson, the mini-chorus containing such an energy that one is propelled to echo it. I could go over every track and comment on how good they are, but that would be tiresome and overkill. All that needs to be said is that every song is good, which is a rarity for any band, and most of them have several epic moments where I feel wholeheartedly inspired and aurally invigorated.
Musically, The Legion seem to go from strength to strength. They are quite tight, polished performers, which is always nice when it comes to Black Metal of this nature. The guitar work is great, performance and writing wise, i cannot really fault the band at all in this realm. The drums are punishing, and all beats and fills suit where they are put perfectly. Dragutinovic isn't the most precise or super tight drummer i've heard, but i'm actually glad, as sterlile, clinical drums would not suit this band at all. The vocals are solid, the range stays in sort of a old school scream/yelled growl for the most part, but with subtle and plentiful variations thrown in they're never tiresome. There are even some occasional clean vocal parts, which work perfectly.
Production wise, it has a very suitable and warm sound. The album is mixed and produced by the band (primarily their guitarist Rikard Kottelin), and whilst the production doesn't punch your head off with fullness, the sound itself is "big" enough to provide ample room for an album that is quite often epic and requires room to move. All the levels are perfect, nothing is too loud or overshadows anything else, and when there is little interludes that fade in and out, they're always set at an ideal level. The guitar tone is probably a little saturated, but that is to be expected for bands of this style. Bass hides under the guitar mostly, but it's presence is suitably audible. The drum sound is pretty killer, only thing i wish is that the drummer had a few more different (and perhaps better) sounding cymbals. Overall, the album is killer in the sound department.
Album art is simply awesome. Fairly non-cliched piece of work, which is always good. Suitably sinister and complimentary to the music. Lyrics are pretty stock, some interesting concepts, but nothing bad and as with many other modern BM bands the Satanic themes are dwindling into near non-existence.
So, overall i have virtually nothing negative to say about this album. If you are a fan of The Legion and don't have it - buy it, you won't be disappointed. If you like modern, non-cliched black metal with memorable riffs and occasional forays into the epic, then this album could be for you. The only critical thing i could say is that the album can sometimes be a little repetitive, but within seconds some new, fresh epic portion will kick in and any concern you have will dwindle into insignificance.
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