With one full-length and an EP to their name, New Jersey
death/thrashers Legionary set off to record another EP. This release shows the
band taking another step forward in terms of upping the quality of their unique
brand of extreme metal. Typically, death/thrash bands tend to sound like thrash
bands that are pushing the limits of the genre so far that it spills over into
death metal. By contrast, Legionary plays thrash metal, but in a death metal
context. What I mean by this is that “Once And For All” is an endless
bombardment of thrash riffs, but each riff is surrounded by highly precise
drumming that is almost mechanical in nature. Add in vocals that skip right to
the mid-90’s, and you have almost no thrash influence outside of the riffs
themselves. This style of metal is actually really effective because it adds a
lot of emphasis to the percussive nature of the riffs.
The four tracks on this EP tend to be pretty similar. The
only deviance is the opener, “Marching Towards Ascension”, which, as the name
implies, is a militaristic instrumental preparing you for the upcoming
onslaught. “Once And For All” is the strongest of the three full tracks, mostly
due to the fact that it is the most memorable. The riff that breaks out a couple minutes into the song is sure to get some violent pits going when played live. Additionally, it ends with a shredding solo that also shows some melody,
and ultimately caps off a pretty enjoyable experience. The instruments on the
EP all have a great tone to them (vocals included), though the mix isn’t ideal.
The drums and the vocals are a bit more at the forefront than the guitars, and
there are a few moments where great riffs are buried. Rest assured, however,
that as soon as a lead pops up, the guitar volume increases to be in line with
the drums and vocals. In this respect, I’d compare the mix much to a typical
live performance of any metal band. With that said, however, this issue isn’t too
damaging to “Once And For All”. The riffs can still be heard well, especially
when there are no vocals or blast beats.
Overall, Legionary has provided an EP that will definitely
get a lot of heads banging. The proprietary blend of death and thrash metal
that the band plays is reason enough to check out this release. “Once And For
All” is certainly not perfect, but it shows a band that has an excellent
understanding of what makes their style of metal enjoyable, and it seems like
their future releases will only be better if they keep this up!
Highlights
"Once And For All"
Final Rating
4.0/5 or 80%.
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