THE LEGION – UNSEEN TO CREATION
Listenable Records - 2003
By Rodrigo Escandon
Whenever there is a new black metal band coming out with an album one has to be wary to the fact that hopefully they are not a band just rehashing old ideas and actually trying something new. To many bands are come out sounding just like the bands that influenced them. It could be the cold, grim and raging black metal or the more aesthetically pleasing (and ultimately more commercial) brand of black metal like a
Dimmu Borgir. Thankfully,
The Legion, which plays the former form of black metal, is not a band out there imitating the past but rather playing for the future and
Unseen to Creation is hopefully the beginning of something great.
Produced at Abyss Studios by Tommy Tätgtgren
Unseen to Creation definitely sounds powerful and furious. The raging and high-pitched screaming vocals fit right in with all the chaos. The drums are an unrelenting attack of pounding double bass, there is a reason that Emil Dragutinovic is a member of
Marduk, he is just as impressive here as he was in
World Funeral. The guitars sound crystal clear, crisp and in your face with not a lot of fuzz and distortion which was very important due to the fact that
The Legionthrow a lot of melody into their music much like
Dissection or
Naglfar.
The comparison to these bands is fitting because that is the main influence that can be attributed to
The Legion but like I said earlier this is not a rehash of old ideas. They may take elements from those bands but they also take elements form other black metal pioneers like
Immortal.
The Legion take ideas from both styles, blend them together and the end result is a sound that would fit somewhere in between those two styles of black metal. Songs like “On Swift Wings”, “Cosmopathic Deathvoid” and “Awakened Fury” showcase plenty of melodies and tempo changes but they are also unrelenting in their fury and attack, it is the best of both worlds.
Unseen to Creation is a great debut from
The Legion and it is definitely worth your attention.
Listenable Records Website
The Legion Official Website
