legend valediction

Released: 07 June 2010 Label: Rise Records

Legend: no, not the UK prog rock band from Runcorn. This mob are from Detroit, Michican. That’s in the US, but you probably knew that. There’s something about US metal bands, and yes, I am generalising, that means they tend to play tough, chugging riffs with a lot of power, where the guitars are almost treated as percussion instruments, and vocals are provided courtesy of a severe throat infection that renders them unintelligible. It’s probably why the lyrics are printed in the accompanying booklet, because you have no chance of working them out by listening to the album.

A look at Rise Records website reveals that the label specialises in post hardcore / emo style sounds, which kind of gives you a clue as to what’s coming.

So, what to say about this new cd?

I would never make this a part of my music collection, because I just don’t consider it to be music. That may be a bit unfair, and certainly says more about my taste than it does about the bands ability to write, perform and record their work. So, let’s look at the work. There’s plenty of aggressive guitar riffs, blastbeat drums and extreme vocals that should be accompanied by a health warning. (Stay back, or you’ll catch this too!).

There’s not a lot of differences between the tracks, although there are occasional changes of pace, and the introduction of a secondary, equally infectious vocal.

Overall though, this is pretty uninspiring stuff, even for this particular genre. There is nothing on here that would make me want to go out and listen to more hardcore and although the band have to be good on a technical level to play this fast and this accurately, there’s just too much anger in the album to encourage me to listen to any more than I have to in order to write this review.

by Alan Thomson